Storage year 2024/2025 begins

• High stock levels at the end of winter will make it easier to reach filling levels for the security of the supply

• Growing customer interest in multi-year contracts and additional services

• Flexible changes to injection/withdrawal regimes for customers

The 2023/2024 withdrawal season officially ended at 6 a.m. on Monday, April 1, and the next storage year, 2024/2025, began. Like most underground gas storage operators, Gas Storage CZ is ending the withdrawal season with high gas volumes, at 59 percent of total virtual storage capacity. This is a record level of gas volume at the end of the withdrawal season, reflecting the mild winter and the status of international energy markets. The final gas stock volume is expected to decrease further as requests for withdrawals continue.

Since last April, we have held more than three dozen auctions in which we have offered various combinations of working gas volume and withdrawal and injection capacity, primarily on a fixed-price basis. In most auctions, customers took advantage of the opportunity to book storage capacity for periods longer than one storage year. Customers were also interested in other services, mainly interruptible and daily firm capacity and gas-in-stock transfers. As in previous years, we have also seen an increased number of nominations in the opposite direction. At the moment, the company's services are used by 37 customers from six European countries.

And what will the storage year 2024 look like? The storage capacity for the year 2024/2025 has been fully reserved. As always, we will respond flexibly to the requirements for injections and withdrawals according to the demands of the customers. Given the high initial stock level, it can be assumed that on November 1, 2024, the Gas Storage CZ virtual storage will be filled to at least 90 percent of the total capacity, which is the quantity required by the EU for member states.