FRANKFURT — Germany must review and improve its mechanism for filling its gas caverns, the gas storage industry association INES said on Sunday, as storage levels in Europe's largest economy remained at record lows ahead of the winter season, Reuters reported. As of October 30, gas storage levels stood at 61.35%, well below an 80% target Germany has set for November 1, raising fears about supply shortages even though Berlin has said there will not be any bottlenecks.

Source: Reuters, Nov 1, 2026

"The failure to meet storage level targets shows that storage levels for coming winters must be guaranteed more rigorously," INES managing director Sebastian Heinermann said in a statement. The main driver for the lower storage levels has been the Iran war and its impact on prices, which made filling caverns over the summer uneconomical, INES said. Heinermann welcomed the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs being open to introducing an obligation on suppliers, and said specific options for a storage obligation should now be discussed at the earliest opportunity so it can be written into law without delay. INES has prepared a report together with the gas grid operator association FNB Gas to inform the political process, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters via Global Banking & Finance, Nov 1, 2026

61.35%German gas storage on Oct 30 (GIE data via INES/Reuters)
80%Nov 1 target for most German storage sites
~75%EU-average storage level for comparison
€100/MWhEuropean benchmark gas price briefly touched this week, first time since Dec 2022

Germany's network regulator put storage at 61.7% on Thursday and said supplies remain secure, stressing that storage levels alone no longer determine resilience because Germany now has LNG terminals, Norwegian pipeline supplies and access to a highly integrated European gas network. Even so, the agency said current levels are significantly lower than in comparable periods in recent years and that it is taking the situation seriously. The Economy Ministry has maintained that even an exceptionally cold winter could be managed, while acknowledging a higher fill level would have been preferable. European benchmark gas prices briefly returned to €100 per megawatt-hour this week, their highest since December 2022, as Middle East shipping disruptions tightened LNG supply, according to reporting on the regulator and Gas Infrastructure Europe data published on October 31.

Source: Eastora News (regulator/GIE data), Oct 31, 2026

The shortfall has also become a political argument inside Europe. Germany on Friday rejected accusations from Italy that it had failed to fill its gas stores ahead of winter in order to reduce costs for its gas import companies ahead of privatisation, Reuters reported. Berlin is also preparing longer-term changes: a draft seen by Reuters would replace mandatory storage-filling targets with a national strategic gas reserve of about 24 terawatt-hours from 2027, designed to cover the loss of Germany's largest gas-import infrastructure for around 30 days. An Italian energy ministry official, Alessandro Noce, has warned the European benchmark could rise to €150-€180 per megawatt-hour in a cold January — a scenario that would push up heating and power costs across the continent, including for the large Punjabi and Indian workforce living in Europe.