President of the Federal Network Agency Klaus Müller has announced that Germany's gas reserves are already well on their way to being full for next winter. Nevertheless, Müller explains that Germany should maintain caution when it comes to using supplies.

German gas reserves filling up for winter

“We are now coming out of winter with relatively full storage capacity,” the President of the Federal Network Agency told ZDF this week. “This will help fill the storage facilities over the summer without Russian pipeline gas,” Müller added.

In the German calendar, March 31 now marks the end of the so-called Speicherjahr, or saving year. And this year, it’s good news: on March 28 the gas reserve levels had reached 64,3 percent full, meaning that Germany is already making good headway for the coming winter. 

Germany’s gas reserves act as a buffer to the country’s currently fluctuating gas market. Though optimistic, Müller warned that the federal republic should always aim to be even more prepared. The unsettlingly warm winter of 2022 / 2023 meant that reserves were maintained throughout the colder months of the year. The president called last year's storage a “great success”, but urged that “if next winter is significantly colder, we will also need significantly more gas”. 

Müller suggested that Germany proceed with caution: “We also have to prepare well for the next winter. That means continuing to use gas sparingly.”

Germany used 99,9 percent less Russian oil in January 2023

In the first few months of 2023, Germany also decreased its dependency on Russian crude oil by a drastic 99,9 percent. According to figures recently released by Destatis, between January 2022 and January 2023 German imports of Russian oil dropped from 2,8 million tonnes to just 3,500 tonnes.

In January 2023 Germany imported 6,2 million tonnes of crude oil to the value of 3,8 billion euros. Oil imports from the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan and Norway have made up the difference from previously imported Russian oil.

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