Uniper CEO Says Germany Can Still Hit 70% Gas Storage Target
(Bloomberg) -- Germany can still reach its target of filling gas storage sites to 70% by Nov. 1 from its current low levels, Uniper SE Chief Executive Officer Michael Lewis said.
“We can still get there, but we do have to see the market prices move to incentivize the filling of the storage,” Lewis said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday.
Germany has Europe’s largest gas-storage capacity, but it currently lags behind the rest of the region. Its sites are just over 48% full, compared with a European average of about 59%.
Germany entered the injection season this spring with unusually low inventories after cold spells reduced storage levels to around 20%. The war in the Middle East has since pushed up gas prices, making it more expensive to buy the fuel in the summer than in the winter and discouraging stockpiling.
“However, we are seeing the forward curve come up a little bit, and of course we’re now starting to see people think about the winter and what we might do,” Lewis said.
However, Lewis said storage levels are only one part of ensuring sufficient supplies for the coming heating season, as Europe also depends on continued liquefied natural gas imports.
“We need to make sure that the LNG flows to Europe this winter, and that’s why we need a resolution of the Strait of Hormuz closure as soon as possible,” Lewis said. “We need a peace deal in the Middle East.”
When asked by journalists about possible government intervention to boost storage levels, Lewis said that “ad-hoc interventions are always unpredictable” and best avoided.
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