RWE CEO Says Germany Enters Winter Season With Gas Storage at Five-Year Low
Markus Krebber says the winter outlook depends on political decisions, with inventories far below last year and global LNG supply constrained by Middle East conflict.
Germany faces this winter with gas storage at its lowest level in five years, RWE CEO Markus Krebber said on Thursday (2026-08-13), telling Montel that the market outlook will largely depend on political decisions rather than commercial dynamics alone.6
ICE Endex TTF front-month gas was trading at €61.03/MWh at 08:15 UTC Thursday (2026-08-13), a price that reflects the market's absorption of Middle East supply disruption. European gas prices have climbed around 40% from pre-conflict levels after the Iran war and closure of the Strait of Hormuz removed approximately 20% of global LNG supply, according to data in the source packet.5
Krebber's intervention carries direct commercial weight. RWE is Germany's largest power producer, with a gas-fired generation fleet and storage positions that make it acutely sensitive to refilling economics. His call came with German storage sites only 30.6% full as of May 27 (2026-05-27), according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data — well below the 38.65% recorded at the same point last year.5
The gap had been visible for months. On Wednesday (2026-05-20), RWE called publicly for market-based incentives to accelerate storage refilling, a position that stopped short of demanding direct state intervention but signalled that voluntary industry action was insufficient.2 Uniper went further. CEO Michael Lewis told a German newspaper that shortages next winter were a real possibility if injection rates did not accelerate, with Uniper's storage sites among those cited in late-May reporting as most exposed to the slow pace.5
An analyst told Montel's German Energy Day conference in Dusseldorf on Thursday (2026-05-21) that Germany would likely fill storage in time for winter — but at a sharply higher cost if refilling started late. The spread between summer and winter gas prices widens the longer operators wait, penalising delayed policy responses in a way that flows directly into consumer and industrial energy bills.1
Germany's vulnerability traces partly to its earlier dependence on Russian pipeline gas, which supplied 55% of total consumption before the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to data in the source packet. Berlin has since cut that share to 35%, but the partial dependence left German storage more exposed to subsequent shocks than neighbouring markets.4 The Iran conflict and the resulting LNG squeeze have made rebuilding reserves harder and more expensive than at any point since 2022.
New supply agreements are being signed to plug some of the gap. Equinor struck a multi-year deal with Eneco to supply Norwegian gas to LichtBlick, Eneco's wholly owned German subsidiary, covering annual volumes of around 2.2 terawatt-hours — approximately 0.2 billion cubic metres per year — through the end of 2030.3 LichtBlick says the contracted gas carries around 9% lower greenhouse gas intensity than its alternative sources, though at these volumes the deal adds a meaningful but incremental flow that does not close the storage shortfall on its own.3
Germany has set a target of 90% storage utilisation by December (2026-12-31), according to the source packet. Hitting that from where inventories stood in late May requires a sustained acceleration in injection rates across the remaining summer months — a pace that currently looks difficult without some form of government support.4
Krebber's public statement Thursday (2026-08-13) is timed to push that policy conversation before the injection window narrows. Berlin has not announced specific mechanisms — whether strategic reserve purchases, injection floor prices, or other tools — and the longer that ambiguity persists, the higher the cost of reaching the December target.6
ICE Endex TTF front-month at €61.03/MWh already carries significant geopolitical risk. A cold start to autumn or a fresh supply disruption across any remaining LNG corridor would test both storage levels and the government's willingness to move. Berlin's next policy signal is the specific variable traders should track.6,1