Natural gas storage falls to 'alarmingly low levels' – is wattage increasing?

not many people know

Paul Homewood

Not only are we dangerously close to maximum blackouts this week, but our natural gas reserves are dangerously low:

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Plunging temperatures and high demand for gas-fired power plants have reduced UK winter gas storage to considerably low levels.

Britain's gas storages are under pressure this winter as the country faces challenges from extreme cold and high oil prices. Continued below-normal weather in the UK, combined with the suspension of supplies from Russia's gas pipeline through Ukraine on December 31, 2024, means that gas stock levels across the UK have fallen. As of January 9, 2025, inventories at UK storage sites were 26% lower than at the same time last year and were about half full. This means the UK's gas demand is less than a week old.
Due to the early arrival of winter, natural gas storage capacity was already below normal levels in December. Combined with high gas prices, this means replenishing storage over Christmas becomes more difficult.
This situation is seen across Europe. As of January 7, 2025, European storage capacity remained at 69%, down from 84% a year earlier, despite many countries imposing minimum storage levels ahead of winter. The UK's total gas storage capacity is approximately 10% or less of that of France, Germany or the Netherlands.
The UK's natural gas storage is under particular pressure as cold weather leads to a surge in energy demand. Although winter is approaching, current natural gas inventories at Rough, the country's largest gas storage facility operated by Centrica, are still 20% lower than at this time last year. Rough has played a vital role so far this winter, supplying nearly 420 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas since the start of November, enough to heat three million homes every day.

https://www.centrica.com/media-centre/news/2025/perfect-storm-reduces-uk-winter-gas-storage-to-concerningly-low-levels

Gas still accounts for more than a third of the UK's energy, seven times more than wind and solar:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/digest-of-uk-energy-statistics-dukes-2024

But in the winter, as electricity demand increases and heating is turned on, natural gas consumption can be double or even triple that of the summer.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gas-section-4-energy-trends#full-publication-update-history

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Average natural gas consumption throughout the year is about 175 mcm/day, but today’s forecast is 363 mcm:

https://data.nationalgas.com/gas-system-status

It's no surprise then that natural gas stocks are running out. As of yesterday, we had 18,752 kWh of natural gas and 10,365 GWh of liquefied gas in stock, enough for seven days of consumption. However, this is misleading as it means that gas will not be supplied.

https://data.nationalgas.com/gas-system-status

Perhaps a more meaningful indicator is that we get about 200 mcm a day from the North Sea, both from our own production and from imports from Norway. This could reasonably be considered a secure supply.

Since the demand is 363 cubic centimeters per day, this means that we need to import 163 cubic centimeters per day of LNG, which is a significant increase from the average annual import volume of 50 cubic centimeters per day. So our natural gas storage capacity is about 2,600 mcm, which is equivalent to 16 days of LNG imports.

If we don't have enough gas in storage, we'll have to pay high import charges in the winter when prices peak.

But even more worrying is what happens when North Sea gas production declines. Winter demand for natural gas will remain high for many years to come – we still need it to heat our homes and generate electricity during weeks like this year. Banning further development of the North Sea, as Miliband wants, will only make us more dependent on imported LNG, which will not only cost us money but also jeopardize our energy security.

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