EU’s annual gas refill to cost EUR 10 bn more: The EU will pay at least EUR 10 bn more than last year to restore natural gas reserves up to 90% of capacity in 2025, following a heavy winter season, the Financial Times reports. Despite gas prices slipping on the back of lower-than-expected Chinese demand, the cost of refilling reserves is expected to total up to EUR 26 bn — up from 2024’s bill of EUR 16 bn, Allianz Trade Analyst Ano Kuhanathan told the salmon-colored paper.

REMEMBER- The EU was reportedly looking into relaxing its gas storage requirements earlier this year to curtail inflationary effects after several member states highlighted that keeping the deadline fixed for buying up and storing big amounts of gas has rendered the market vulnerable to price manipulation. A tentative plan previously proposed setting a range within which targets could be met somewhere between 1 October and 1 December, rather than fixing the deadline on 1 November.

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