Underground Gas Storage - Page 2

Key UGS metrics in the world remained virtually unchanged in 2021

Seven new storage facilities were commissioned, six of which were in China and one in Sharjah. These new capacities were largely offset by declines in the main storage markets. Overall, the global number of storage facilities, working gas capacity and peak withdrawal rates remained virtually unchanged year-on-year.

… but interest in UGS is growing, as evidenced by a growing pipeline of new projects and expansions totalling 133 bcm of working capacity

While the UGS market remains highly concentrated, with 5 countries (United States, Russia, Ukraine, Canada and Germany) accounting for almost 70% of global storage capacities, there is a clear shift of storage activity towards new, fast growing gas markets, China and the Middle East notably.

Including an analysis of the current global gas crisis – New report by CEDIGAZ

Underground gas storage is back in the spotlight with the current gas crisis, which once again illustrates its importance for security of supply, especially in Europe. The new 2021 Underground Gas Storage Report published by CEDIGAZ therefore includes an in-depth analysis of the underlying causes of the current crisis and highlights the crucial importance of storage to ensure the flexibility of the gas system. The report also provides an update of key global UGS statistics and regional dynamics at work with a focus on China and Russia.

 Current gas crisis: Blame the weather and the market

European spot natural gas prices and Asian spot LNG prices reached all-time highs in October. The steep rise reflects a severe mismatch between gas supply and demand and was caused by a combination of several factors: a strong recovery in gas demand, notably in China, where coal shortages and environmental pressure reinforced the call on gas demand; unplanned LNG supply outages; extreme weather events that put immense pressure on the gas supply system, as well as on hydropower and wind generation; a sluggish recovery in gas production; and lower natural gas storage inventories in Europe.

The newly issued 2020 report on UGS by CEDIGAZ highlights the key data from the 2020 update of its global UGS database and provides a detailed analysis of 4 markets of utmost importance in balancing global gas markets now and tomorrow: Europe, Ukraine, Russia and China.

2020 UGS HIGHLIGHTS:

Europe: unprecedented high stock volumes in storage

Uncertainty about the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine negotiations after the expiry of the transit contract between Gazprom and Naftogaz at the end of 2019, strong LNG capacity additions and the Covid-19 triggered demand crunch have resulted in record filling levels of European UGSs and have led European shippers to turn to Ukraine to store their excess gas.