The data on gas reserves in the EU underground gas storages should be assessed in the context of changed logistics, the load on them will increase, by March the level of reserves in the European underground gas storages could fall to 5%, Gazprom head Alexey Miller said at a session of the Russian Energy Week, Interfax reported.

"Today there are other logistics and other sources of gas supply to the European market. The burden on Europe's natural gas storage facilities will probably be much higher than in previous years," he said.

According to Miller, Germany has the largest volume of gas pumped. "Germany will apparently pump about 20 billion cubic meters. In previous fall and winter periods, Germany consumed 60 or more than 60 billion, which means that there is enough gas in the UGSF for a maximum of 2-2.5 months. There are different forecasts, depending on the temperature, there are optimistic and pessimistic forecasts that about 5% will remain in the European UGSF at the time of withdrawal in March 2023. Yes, Europe will survive, but what will happen to pumping 2023-2024? Then it becomes clear that the energy crisis is not a short-term one, but a systemic one," said Miller.

He stressed that there is a more acute part of the issue, which is the passing of the winter peak. "Entire cities and lands can be frozen in a short period of time. "Gazprom used to supply between 600 million and 1.7 billion cubic meters per day during winter peaks when the cold anticyclone 'The Beast from the East' arrived. European experts today call 800 million cubic meters of gas, which may be lacking in Europe during abnormally severe cold weather, and this is one third of all European consumption," Miller added.