Germany to provide 15b euro credit line to fill gas storage

Germany will provide an additional 15 billion euros ($15.8 billion) in credit lines for the purchase of gas to replenish storage facilities, news agency dpa reported on Sunday, citing a paper by the Economy Ministry.

The additional credit lines will enable Germany’s gas market operator, Trading Hub Europe (THE), to fill up storage levels faster, meeting a key strategic target to ensure Germany can get through the winter should Russian supplies stop altogether. However the dpa report gave no indication of where the extra supplies might be sourced.

Filling up gas storage facilities has become more challenging for Germany since Russia curtailed the capacity of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline by 60per cent, jeopardising plans to bring storage levels to 80per cent by October and 90per cent by November.