Brussels: Gas reserves in underground storage facilities in Europe have fallen below 45%, as reported by TASS citing data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). As of January 25, withdrawals from these facilities reached nearly 692 million cubic meters, with the total volume of fuel now standing at less than 50 billion cubic meters. According to Azerbaijan State News Agency, temperatures in Europe are expected to vary this week. The forecast indicates relatively warm weather for the first half of the week following last week's frosts, but temperatures may drop again by the weekend. In December 2025, wind power contributed an average of 20% to EU electricity generation, slightly decreasing to 19% in January 2026. The average gas purchase price in Europe in January was $398 per 1,000 cubic meters, a notable increase from $334 in December, driven by the cold weather. These prices are the highest since spring 2025. By March 28, 2025, at the end of the last gas withdrawal season, storage facilities were 33.57% fu ll. Currently, the storage facilities are 44.95% full, which is 15.18 percentage points lower than the average for this date over the past five years and down from 56.2% a year earlier. Since the heating season began on October 13, 2025, EU countries have withdrawn approximately 47 billion cubic meters of gas from storage facilities. The net withdrawal, where the total level of withdrawal exceeds the volume of injection, has reached 42 billion cubic meters.