As winter approaches, Europe is stepping up its efforts to replenish gas reserves in anticipation of colder weather and potential supply disruptions. In France, the current filling rate of gas storage sites is considered acceptable by officials, but gas prices are expected to continue rising. The situation is further complicated by the ongoing war in the Middle East, which has disrupted global energy markets and increased uncertainty about future supplies. Despite the progress made, the filling process is not keeping pace with previous years. In Chémery, near Blois in the Loir-et-Cher department, France's largest gas storage facility is located. This site resembles a forest clearing, but instead of tree roots, there are underground pipelines. The site features about sixty drillings spread throughout the area. "Imagine a pipeline that is 20 centimeters in diameter and goes down a kilometer deep," explains Mickael Guillot, the site's director. "The pipeline is warm because it carries gas from a compressor, which increases the pressure to 130 bars—what you see on the pressure gauge—before injecting it into the reservoir." The underground reservoir is a large layer of porous rock, 1,000 meters deep, which acts like a sponge, capturing gas molecules and storing enough to supply one out of every six French households for a year. Operations at Chémery have been proceeding within normal parameters, but nationally, progress has lagged. As of now, the filling rate for France's 16 gas storage sites is at 76%, compared to 90% at the same time last year. Charlotte Roule, CEO of Storengy, the main operator of these sites, says that challenges in supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) have made it more difficult to meet the demand for injections. "The difficulties in supplying LNG have made it more complicated to supply France and Europe, and therefore the injection could be affected," she explains. The goal is to ensure that these reserves can be relied upon during the winter, as gas storage is increasingly used to meet seasonal demand. "We can never predict the future," says Roule, "but we are relatively confident with the level we are at today." However, the situation is more challenging at the European level, with countries like Germany and the Netherlands still far from their filling targets. This has contributed to rising gas prices, according to Frédéric Martin, president of France Gaz. "Since the Ormuz crisis [a geopolitical issue in the Strait of Hormuz], everyone is accelerating to fill their storages. We don't have a supply problem, but gas prices will be higher than usual over the next six months," he says. These increases directly impact consumers on variable-rate gas plans, though the industry expects prices to decrease by the end of 2027, following the opening of new LNG terminals in North America.