Insight
The Impact of Regulatory Changes on Europe’s gas storage market in 2022
Report summary
In 2021, limited injections to gas storage led to unacceptably low inventories being in place at the beginning of November. Whilst the European Union and National governments were aware of the limited amount of gas in store, there was little that could be done about it from a legal and regulatory point of view. Most countries carrying significant storage capacity have historically “left it to the market” since the implementation of various gas directives in the 2000s. However, it has become clear that “leaving it to the market” is no longer an option for the EU, with new legislation being rushed through the European parliament to guarantee a minimum fill at Europe’s storage facilities. In this piece we delve deeper into the last provisional political agreement after a trialogue between the Council, European Parliament, and European Commission; and discuss about the key elements of this proposal, their unintended consequences, and commercial considerations of this new legislation.
Table of contents
- Introduction
- EU’s regulatory response to storage shortfalls
- EU gas storage regulations prior to March 2022
- EU Storage inventory on 1 June and 1 November targets
- How will the new regulations be implemented?
-
Member State actions to date
- Austria
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Unintended consequences
-
Strategic Storage
- Pros
- Cons
-
Commercial Considerations for new gas storage legislation in Europe
- Importance of summer winter price spreads
- Vertically integrated companies will survive!
- Further changes to the regulatory framework may be required
- Conclusions
Tables and charts
This report includes 10 images and tables including:
- Timeline of regulatory response by the EU
- Storage Regulations prior to March 2022
- Inventory Levels on 1 June and 1 November targets (2022)
- Share of LNG storage capacity in average annual demand
- Remaining capacity after 35% average annual gas consumption reduction
- Germany:
- Austria:
- Netherlands:
- France
- Italy:
What's included
This report contains:
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