Europe must continue cutting its natural gas consumption this year and act quickly to secure additional supplies if it expects to make it through next winter, according to Brussels-based think tank Bruegel.

The European Union (EU) must cut demand this year by 13% from the previous five-year average through at least Oct. 1, Bruegel said in a report on Thursday. The target would be adequate if limited Russian imports continue and weather conditions are normal. It would also help the bloc fill natural gas storage inventories to 90% of capacity by that date as new regulations require. 

“Europe’s gas supply-demand balance will remain a tightrope walk for the next two years,” the report’s authors noted in stressing the continent’s energy crisis is not over. “There is very...