Gas storage facilities are privately owned. The gas in them has to be paid for i
n advance, as well as the cost of eventual higher cost of refilling the storage.
The fact that gas prices in Germany are also shooting up, demonstrates that having gas storage achieves little on that issue. Germany used its stored gas to cope with increased demand and lower Wind power output, NOT increased prices.
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Russia's own gas storage is also down.
Adeline Van Houtte, a Europe analyst at the Economist's Intelligence Unit, says: "Currently, the Russian domestic gas market remains tight, with output already near its peak and winter is looming... limiting gas export capacity."
There are several other factors affecting the situation in Europe, such as:
- cold weather at the start of 2021 depleting stocks
- rising prices in spring and summer put traders off buying to sell later in the year
- limited supply from Norway because of maintenance issues
- reduction in other energy sources such as wind power
- growing demand for gas elsewhere in the world
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