> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The EU: world leader in home-made Energy Crunches
- URL: https://dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io/the-eu-world-leader-in-home-made-energy-crunches/
- Published: 2026-08-19T11:02:42.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-19T13:51:32.000Z
- Author: Domenicantonio De Giorgio

> by Domenicantonio De Giorgio

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/2026/08/image-62.png)

****"Baton Roue"** meme, from the Internet

Let's all be crystal-clear here.

The Second Natural Gas Crisis in just five years in Europe is entirely home-made.  
The roots of the 2026-2027 crisis are **not** to be found in the slow replenishment of stocks.

Against all odds and [utterly discouraging price conditions](https://x.com/degiorgiod/status/2088700148037689779?s=20&ref=dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io), **stocks are being replenished**.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/2026/08/image-47.png)

Author's calculations on GIE-AGSI Data

If we look strictly at the absolute volume of gas added to storage across the European countries monitored by GIE-AGSI, we see that, as of August 18, 2026, a **respectable total of 379TWh equivalents** of Natural Gas (red line in the above chart) were added into storage. Certainly not the largest addition of the previous past five Refill Seasons but only a small whisker (47TWh) below the 5-year average refill of 426TWh (black-dashed line in the above chart) as of that date.

The elephant in the room is the **recklessly low level of stocks the 2026 refill season was started**, with EU-wide storage at 314TWh as of April 1, 2026.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/2026/08/image-48.png)

Author's calculations on GIE-AGSI Data

**This is not bad luck.**

My **December 31, 2025** article "**Terra Incognita: The Fragility of the European Natural Gas Market (2025-2026)**" was *the most candid yet alarm of the thin-ice European Energy Security was put on*.

[Terra Incognita: The Fragility of the European Natural Gas Market (2025-2026)By late December 2025, the narrative of a US supply deluge providing a safety net for European energy security has been fundamentally challenged. Despite prevailing optimism from many observers, the European natural gas market is entering what experts describe as terra incognita, characterized by depleting stocks, price parity with Asian![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/icon/LOGO-DEF4-c8eab910-709e-4470-9ea0-7294da942c36.png)Dalla Realtà al MercatoDomenicantonio De Giorgio![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/thumbnail/Pic1-1880abfd-723f-4f31-a17f-35bba3ea0b29.jpg)](https://dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io/terra-incognita-the-fragility-of-the-european-natural-gas-market-2025-2026/)

This is an [**ill-conceived market architecture**](https://x.com/degiorgiod/status/2083598118499598467?ref=dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io) sponsored at the EU-level and implemented by years of group-thinking, green-ideology, hollow virtue-signalling and poor understanding of strategic vulnerabilities and geopolitical posture, a summary of which I made in the latest article published on Rivista Energia that you can find at the link below.

[Germania, gas e rinnovabili: un disco rottoLa Germania continua a negare un’ormai chiara evidenza geometrica: più rinnovabili installi, più gas ti serve come riserva di flessibilità![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/icon/cropped-e-1-270x270-d85b4368-c11e-49d0-8aa5-c63b68966ed7.png)RivistaEnergia.itDomenicantonio De Giorgio![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/thumbnail/mick-haupt-SvTyJZEsBQM-unsplash-e1781094579878-9d9487fc-48bc-4a09-bc51-139213ff43e3.jpg)](https://www.rivistaenergia.it/2026/06/germania-gas-rinnovabili/?ref=dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io)

Over the months, I have very extensively called out how the **German, Dutch reckless use of Natural Gas Stocks** during the **2025-'26 Winter Season** is the **root-cause of this year's misery**.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/2026/08/image-61.png)

Author's calculations on GIE-AGSI Data

**Germany** \- which used to be Europe's single-largest holder of Natural Gas Stocks at the start of the past winter seasons - **ended Winter 2025-'26 with** mere 54TWh left in storage, **the second-lowest mark from Winter Season 2012-'13** after having depleted 134TWh of stored Natural Gas over the past winter season. **The Netherlands**, **home of** the *Title-Transfer Facility* (**TTF**), Europe's most important Natural Gas market, ended Winter 2025-'26 with **only 7TWh left in storage** after having depleted 99TWh of stored Natural Gas between November 2025 and March 2026\. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/2026/08/image-58.png)

Author's calculations on GIE-AGSI Data

**By combining** the absolute level of stocks depletion with the percentage of fullness of Natural Gas storage facilities by key European States as of April 1, 2026 - black - and April 1, 2025 - orange shown in the chart above one can appreciate how acutely grave the big picture was to begin with by the end of the last winter season. 

**The warning signs** were evident enough long before the actual end of the past Winter season. The numbers shown in the two preceding charts above were scrutinized for Rivista Energia in **mid-February 2026** already. They **fell on deaf ears**.

[Allarme stoccaggi gasGli stoccaggi gas a livello pan-europeo sono ai minimi dalla crisi del 2022, con evidenti e critiche disparità regionali![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/icon/cropped-e-1-270x270-3206eeda-2525-4f64-9d19-d07eb907d767.png)RivistaEnergia.itDomenicantonio De Giorgio![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/17/74/1774685f-63b0-441c-be61-719f1e135bea/content/images/thumbnail/Cattura-e1771245288790-f85656a4-4672-4103-9ab1-05425678084c.jpg)](https://www.rivistaenergia.it/2026/02/allarme-stoccaggi-gas/?ref=dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io)

So again, **don't call this bad luck**. 

It's not (only) geopolitics that have gone wild; it's not (only) the extreme, deadly heat that's struck Europe during Summer 2026\. 

**It's the fabric itself of the whole architecture that is unstable from within.**

Over the years I have devoted countless articles, scientific research, media interviews on Italian and International Networks (you can find [here](https://dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io/articoli-interviste-pubblicazioni/) some of them) and commentaries on my social media channels to the many flaws and points of sugarcoated collective blind spots, to no avail.

***"Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind"*** seems to the be most sarcastically accurate description of the Summer 2026 Energy Misery in Europe 

> After hitting the second-dearest monthly wholesale price of the last decade in June '26, July went repeating it back-to-back.  
> Wholesale Power Prices roared well past 100eur/MWh in Italy, Germany, and Spain (oh! Renewables!), where they logged a scary +51% MoM vs June 2026\. /2 [pic.twitter.com/scBXJGkjbb](https://t.co/scBXJGkjbb?ref=dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io)
> 
> — Domenico De Giorgio, EU. Capre Diem (not a typo). (@degiorgiod) [August 5, 2026](https://x.com/degiorgiod/status/2085075089679175882?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io)

and of what expects European Memeber States going into Winter 2026-'27.

> Listen to my Podcast "[**Dalla Realtà al Mercato, dal Mercato alla Realtà**](https://dalla-realta-al-mercato-dal-mercato-alla-realta.ghost.io/about/)"