BRUSSELS/BONN (dpa-AFX) - Germany's natural gas storage facilities were 78.6 percent full on Feb. 1, almost twice as full as required by the Energy Industry Act on that date. This was revealed on Thursday by preliminary data from the European gas storage association GIE. The published value indicates the fill level at 6 a.m. on Feb. 1. The law requires gas storage operators to ensure that a fill level of at least 40 percent is reached at each facility on Feb. 1.

The President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, expressed his delight: "We have far exceeded the statutory fill level target. This is a great joint achievement by all those who use gas sparingly," he told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. A gas shortage this winter has become unlikely, he added. "But we now have the task of refilling the storage facilities in the summer for next winter without Russian pipeline gas." The new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals would help with that. "It also continues to matter that we use gas sparingly."

Levels in Germany have been declining overall since Jan. 9. Prior to that - unseasonably - there had been more than two weeks of storage. Across the EU, levels were at 72.1 percent on Wednesday morning, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous day.

The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a buffer system for the market. Levels typically decrease after the heating season begins in the fall. On the morning of November 14, a fill level of 100 percent had been recorded.

It should be noted that gas continues to flow permanently into Germany through pipeline imports, on Tuesday from Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, according to the Federal Network Agency. Meanwhile, Germany also receives natural gas via LNG terminals on German coasts./tob/DP/mis