Energy ministry: Gas reserves growing once again from April

The ministry said gas reserves currently stand at around 4.5 billion cubic metres. Domestic storage facilities are at 67-68 percent of their capacity and have been above two-thirds of their capacity continuously since July.

The ministry noted that recently Hungary stored gas at a significantly faster pace than the schedule set by the European Union: storage facilities were already 90 percent full at the end of summer compared to the November deadline, the ratio peaked at 98 percent in the autumn, and was at 76 percent in February compared to the 51 percent goal.

The 4.5 billion cubic metres of gas in storage equals 150 percent of the residential needs for the entirety of 2023, or 44 percent of the entire domestic gas requirement for last year, more than double the EU average.

Hungary has also exceeded its obligation to reduce gas consumption for two consecutive years. In the year ended in March, just like the previous period, consumption decreased by a fifth, above the 15 percent target.

Compared to the average gas consumption of over 10 billion cubic meters between 2017 and 2022, it decreased to close to 8 billion cubic meters from April 2023 to March 2024, while Hungarian households for a long time have continued to pay the lowest prices in Europe for the most important energy carriers, the ministry said.