Why UK gas storage levels are ‘concerningly low’

Plunging temperatures in recent weeks and the end of Russian gas deliveries via Ukraine have hurt gas inventories in the United Kingdom, the country’s main gas supplier Centrica said on January 10, warning that gas supplies were now“concerningly low.”

Centrica reported that UK gas stocks were 26% lower last week than the same period in 2024, at about half full. The company added that the country had less than a week of stored gas to heat homes and businesses.

On Saturday, the UK’s gas storage facilities were just 42% full, according to a tally by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), Europe’s association of gas infrastructure operators.

By comparison, Germany’s gas storage facilities were nearly three-quarters full, while Poland’s were still more than 80% full.

The GIE data showed Britain has the smallest amount of gas held in reserve out of the 20 European countries listed.

Why are the UK’s gas stocks so low?

Going into the fall, Britain’s gas storage facilities were only a maximum of two-thirds full, compared to Germany and Poland, which had filled their tanks to more than 90% of capacity by September.

There are several reasons for the disparity. The UK has much less gas storage capacity than other European countries — about 3.2 billion cubic meters (bcm), seven times less than Germany and five times less than the Netherlands.

Britain’s storage facilities can hold enough gas for 12 average days or just over a week during winter, while Germany has enough for 89 days.

The UK’s largest gas storage hub, located in the North Sea off the east coast of England, is currently operating at limited capacity.

The Rough facility used to account for 70% of the UK’s gas storage capacity but was closed in 2017 due to safety concerns and high maintenance costs.

The Conservative government of then-Prime Minister Theresa May had refused to subsidize an upgrading plan. However, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, sparking an energy crisis throughout Europe, the government pressed Rough’s owner, Centrica, to reopen the facility.

When operations did resume, they were at about 20% of their previous capacity. Since then, capacity has doubled but is still far from its original level.

So will Britain run out of gas?

Despite falling gas in storage, National Gas, which runs the UK’s gas transmission system, insisted the country would have enough to continue heating homes and businesses for the rest of the winter.

“The overall picture across Great Britain’s eight main gas storage sites remains healthy,” a National Gas spokesman told news agency Reuters in an email.

“Britain obtains its gas from a diverse range of sources beyond that already in storage, meaning we are well placed to respond to demand this winter.”

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer told reporters in London that the country was on the verge of an energy blackout were “not true.”

“We speak regularly with the national energy system operator to monitor our energy security and ensure they have all tools at their disposal if needed to secure our supply,” the spokesperson added.

Why is the UK vulnerable to rising gas prices?

The UK has taken a different approach to gas provision than its other European peers, preferring so-called just-in-time supply through imports and domestic production over storage facilities.

Britain relies on domestic gas piped from the North Sea for around half of its needs. It buys the rest on the open market based on real-time demand and current prices.

On the other hand, Germany, France, Austria and Italy had introduced mandatory gas storage requirements at the national level until a European Union rule took effect in June 2022 that all EU states must refill their gas storage facilities to 90% capacity by November 1 every year.

The UK’s strategy mostly worked well during an era of cheap energy but left it vulnerable to paying much higher prices during periods of peak gas demand — including in the early months of the Ukraine war, where prices increased twentyfold.

Although only about 5% of the UK gas needs came directly from Russia, the nation’s free market approach meant it was also badly impacted when other European countries scrambled to find alternative supplies to cut their reliance on Russian energy.

The end of the Ukraine transit deal last month, when Russian gas stopped being piped through the war-torn country to Europe, also helped spike UK gas prices by up to 20%.

The UK’s biggest natural gas suppliers are Norway and the Netherlands, while Qatar and the United States supply liquified natural gas (LNG).

Will Britain boost its gas storage capabilities?

While the UK government has made it a priority to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, recent policy papers have restated the need to boost gas storage facilities to ensure a stable supply, as wind and solar are intermittent energy sources.

However, the country has not announced plans to introduce minimum gas storage levels.

Centrica has proposed a 2 billion pound ($2.43 billion, €2.38 billion) investment to return the Rough storage facility to full capacity and has called on the UK government to help underwrite the investment risk.

A proposed price cap and floor mechanism would see the country’s energy regulator effectively subsidize part of the cost of upgrading the Rough facility if it doesn’t turn a healthy profit.

In return, the company would be forced to return any excess profits from gas storage to the energy regulator, for example during an energy crisis when prices surge.

Edited by: Uwe Hessler