Europe is entering winter with historically low natural gas inventories. If the weather is colder than expected, Europe will lack sufficient buffer space, especially as natural gas prices are surging. "If we face a compound shock, things will get tricky," said Lucie Boost, head of Gas Infrastructure Europe, the European gas infrastructure industry organization. According to the Aggregated Gas Storage Inventory database, current gas storage occupancy rates in Europe are only 65.6%, far below normal autumn levels and the lowest for this time of year since the database began recording data 15 years ago. European natural gas prices have risen by more than 75% in the past two months, reaching a three-year high this week. Gas storage operators in Germany and the Netherlands say both countries will fail to meet their respective gas storage targets of 70% and 80% respectively.
