The filling level of German gas storage facilities for the winter has almost reached the first target of 75 percent, despite lower gas deliveries from Russia.

The European gas storage companies announced on Thursday that the filling level was 73.7 percent last Tuesday. The storage level is always reported with a delay of two days.

The filling level was, therefore, 0.55 percentage points higher than on Monday. Since last Friday, the level has risen by more than 0.5 percentage points every day, despite the sharply reduced supply from Russia.

Russian state gas company Gazprom reduced deliveries to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20 percent of capacity in July. According to the company, this is due to problems with the maintenance of turbines. However, according to the German government, the Kremlin is using the gas supplies as a weapon in retaliation for Western sanctions.

A new regulation from the German government requires German storage facilities to be at least 75 percent full by September 1. On October 1, this must be at least 85 percent, and on November 1, at least 95 percent. This is because Germany wants to prepare for the possible complete shutdown of the gas tap by Russia.

The largest German warehouse in Rehden, Lower Saxony, was 51.5 percent full on Tuesday. The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a kind of buffer system for the gas market.

In the past, up to 60 percent of gas consumption in Germany on cold winter days was covered by German storage facilities. According to the industry association INES, there are approximately 40 gas storage facilities in Germany.