EU Signals End to Blanket Gas Storage Targets After Dutch $1.14 Billion Bill

The Netherlands has asked the European Union to scrap its mandatory gas-storage fill targets after spending roughly $1.14 billion filling its own reserves this summer, and Brussels is signaling it has no plan to extend the current rules once they expire — instead weighing a shift toward disruption-based standards rather than a blanket national fill level. The push comes as Germany, the bloc’s largest gas-storage holder, reported its sites just 57% full as of September 24, well behind recent years’ pace heading into winter.

A bill the Dutch say doesn’t match the rules’ logic

Under the EU’s gas storage regulation, introduced after the 2022 supply shock, member states with underground storage must fill their sites to a set threshold — a target that rose to 90% of capacity and, since a mid-2025 amendment, can be met any time between October 1 and December 1 rather than by a hard November 1 deadline. The Netherlands argues the obligation is calculated mainly on storage capacity rather than on how much gas a country actually consumes, which leaves it — a country with large storage sites relative to its shrinking domestic demand — filling far more gas than it needs for itself. Dutch officials told parliament the government spent close to €1 billion ($1.14 billion) topping up storage this filling season, and that the country’s role as a regional hub means its facilities help secure supply for neighboring states without any mechanism to recover that cost from them.

Brussels leans toward standards, not fixed quotas

The European Commission has not committed to prolonging the existing fill targets past their current timeline, and is instead considering a system built around specific supply-disruption scenarios: companies would be required to meet resilience standards under defined stress tests, with national governments writing those standards into domestic law and able to fine firms that fall short, rather than every member state chasing the same capacity-based percentage. That would mark a shift from the blunt target that has governed EU storage policy since the rules were first introduced, toward an approach that ties obligations more closely to actual risk.

Germany’s own storage gap adds pressure

Germany holds the world’s fourth-largest gas storage capacity, but its sites stood at only 57% full as of September 24 — a level its gas storage association has warned could leave the country exposed if winter temperatures run colder than in recent years. Berlin is examining whether to expand its autumn tender for long-term storage options, a market incentive meant to encourage traders to keep injecting gas even as prices climb, rather than relying on mandatory targets alone. The debate lands as EU-wide storage levels run well below the recent average heading into this winter and after Norwegian supply cuts already pushed UK and continental gas prices sharply higher this year — a reminder of how quickly Europe’s gas balance can tighten even with storage rules in place.

Sources

• Bloomberg, “Dutch Seek End to Gas Storage Targets After $1 Billion Bill,” September 25, 2026 — Dutch spending figure, government position, minister’s letter to parliament.
• OilPrice.com, “Netherlands Pushes to Scrap EU Gas Storage Mandate After $1.14 Billion Bill,” September 25, 2026 — Commission’s stance on the current targets, Germany’s storage level and policy options.
• Rigzone (Reuters), “Dutch to Ask EU to End Mandatory Gas Storage Targets,” September 25, 2026 — independent confirmation of the Dutch request.
• The Daily Energy’s earlier coverage of Europe’s below-average storage levels and Norwegian supply disruptions this year — regional supply context.

Illustrative image. Photo: Arne Müseler, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons — source