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Under a scenario where, for whatever reason, Russian flows to Central and Western Europe are
curtailed from April 1 2022 for a whole year, it might be possible to get through the summer by drawing down on any remaining storage, but that simply postpones the problem by leaving storage empty. With no gas in storage to withdraw and no Russian gas, there is a strong likelihood of a 40 percent reduction in gas demand (around 125 bcm) next winter, without any mitigation measures. Additional supply from diverting LNG to Europe, possibly higher Groningen output and additional pipeline imports, could alleviate the shortfall by some 40 bcm. On the demand side, the IEA suggested that a combination of more nuclear production and bioenergy, bringing forward some renewable projects as well as demand side measures, could replace the equivalent of 30 to 35 bcm of gas demand. However, that would still leave a shortfall of at least 50 bcm or more, in the peak winter months of December through March, with power cuts and industrial closures highly likely.
If a curtailment actually occurred, gas prices would almost certainly spike even higher. That, in turn, would mean that end-consumers of gas and electricity could face the prospect of significantly higher bills than they are already facing this summer. This would even apply to customers in Europe who may not be directly impacted by any shortfall in gas flows from Russia, such as the UK. Furthermore, even if flows from Russia continued at recent levels, the market is still finely balanced and any real easing of this tightness of the market would likely require a return to the higher levels seen in the first nine months of 2021.