German Gas Storage Hits Record Seasonal Low as Prices Top €100

German gas storage is about 62% full. That is the lowest for this time of year in GIE data going back to 2011. The European benchmark gas price also topped €100 per megawatt-hour this week, a level last seen in December 2022.

Germany’s regulator put storage at 61.7% on Thursday, Reuters reported. That is well short of the roughly 70% average target for Nov. 1.

Berlin says supply is secure. A very cold winter could still leave Germany buying expensive gas at the last minute.

What the Numbers Show

Storage was 61.1% on Oct. 21, against 75.4% a year earlier, Reuters reported. The EU average stood at about 75% and Italy’s sites were almost 91% full, per Gas Infrastructure Europe.

GIE’s AGSI+ data starts in 2011. One analysis of it ranks Oct. 29 as the lowest fill for that date on record. A widely shared chart puts the fill at 61.35%.

The €100 figure refers to the Dutch TTF contract. That is Europe’s benchmark, not a German-specific price. It remains far below the record of about €340 in August 2022, Euronews noted.

How the 70% Target Works

The 70% figure is an average, not a single legal limit. A 2025 ordinance cut the Nov. 1 requirement from 90% to 80% for most sites. Six sites, including Rehden, must reach only 45%, the ministry said.

Together, those rules add up to about 70% across Germany, the Bundesnetzagentur explains. We found no sign that the target was lowered again this year.

The ministry now plans to replace mandatory fill targets with a national strategic gas reserve, it told Reuters. Reiche said earlier this month that the reserve would be tendered, with a start planned for 2027, per Frankfurter Rundschau.

What Berlin and the Regulator Say

Economy Minister Katherina Reiche gave an interview to Süddeutsche Zeitung in early October. She said storage held more gas than was used even in the coldest year, per Frankfurter Rundschau’s German report.

She has also told state-owned importer SEFE to inject more gas. The Bundesnetzagentur says supply is secure, and its chief Klaus Müller said a normal winter would be covered, t-online reported. Storage would, however, be very low by winter’s end.

On Friday, a ministry spokesperson blamed the shortfall on Hormuz-related conflict and the price rise. “Certainly, a higher fill level would have been preferable,” the spokesperson said, per Reuters.

The spokesperson added that Germany now has LNG terminals and Norwegian pipelines that were not available in 2022.

Why Storage Is so Low

The Iran war cut LNG supplies, mainly from Qatar, and pushed prices up. Filling storage in summer became uneconomic for many traders. Our earlier report covers how Merz warned the war has cost Europe over €100 billion.

EU storage sites were only 28% full at the end of last winter, Euronews reported. Refilling was slow and costly.

An Italian energy official blamed Germany on Thursday. He said Berlin delayed filling while Uniper and SEFE were being privatised. The German ministry rejected the accusation, Reuters reported.

The Cold-Winter Risk

Industry group INES warned in September that a fill of around 77% would be insufficient in extremely cold weather. Italy’s Alessandro Noce said the benchmark could reach €150 to €180 per MWh if January is cold.

Trading Hub Europe has awarded contracts worth nearly €245 million to secure extra supply, Reuters reported on Oct. 23. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said Europe faces “another energy crisis.”

The Strait of Hormuz remains the main swing factor. See our reports on why a Western official called the U.S. Hormuz mission unsustainable and how Iran changed its Hormuz tactics.