Brussels: EU gas storage stood at 71.5 percent on 29 September 2026, roughly 11 points below the 82.6 percent recorded a year earlier, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data reported at the end of the month. Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen has called the level “exceptionally low” in a letter to governments, and he asked them to cut gas and electricity demand before the heating season begins.

The EU gas storage volumes explain his concern. Storage held about 78.3 billion cubic metres, which is 12.7 billion less than a year ago and 15.5 percentage points under the five-year average for that date. September injections ran at their fastest pace in four years, helped by warm weather, but the cheap summer months for filling have gone.

Prices mirror the weak EU gas storage picture. The Dutch TTF benchmark traded near €72 per megawatt hour in late September, about €40 above its level before the US and Israeli attack on Iran on 28 February, and it topped €80 in mid-September for the first time in three years. QatarEnergy has kept force majeure on deliveries to European buyers since March, and LNG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remain disrupted.

The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators saw trouble coming. In July it noted that storage began the injection season at only 28 percent on 1 April, and it calculated that reaching 90 percent by 1 November would need LNG imports about 13 percent above 2025 levels. An 80 percent fill looked achievable at last year’s import volumes, as the ACER assessment shows.

The Commission has therefore lowered the bar for EU gas storage targets. The Gas Storage Regulation allows flexibility, and in July the Gas Coordination Group said filling sites to 80 percent would be enough to secure winter supply. Jørgensen’s letter urges capitals to use that room, because a rush to hit 90 percent could push prices even higher.

The letter also lists voluntary savings that would ease pressure on EU gas storage: lower electricity use at peak times, capped temperatures in public buildings, limits on outdoor heating and darkened public lighting at night. If conditions worsen, national emergency plans could add interruptible gas contracts and switch power plants from gas to other fuels.

Brussels insists that supply is stable. Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said on 25 September that protected customers, chiefly households and essential services, keep guaranteed supply where EU law conditions apply, and that the Commission will consider extra measures if a security-of-supply problem appears. Jørgensen still describes a “price crisis linking to a supply crisis”, and analysts expect EU gas storage to reach only 70 to 75 percent when the heating season starts.

The decisive weeks come in January and February. If EU gas storage drains faster than LNG cargoes arrive, governments will have to move from voluntary savings to emergency plans, and households will carry the cost in their bills. Readers can follow daily levels on the GIE storage platform and winter outlooks from the European gas network operators.