As of 1 October, natural gas reserves in Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities exceeded 12.4 bcm. This is evidenced by ExPro calculations.
During the last heating season of 2023-2024, Ukraine used about 6.8 bcm of natural gas from underground storage facilities, despite the additional needs related to electricity generation.
This heating season, gas consumption, in particular for electricity generation, is expected to be at the same level as last year.
At the same time, due to increased natural gas production by Ukrgasvydobuvannya and additional resources of Ukrnaftoburinnya, the volume of withdrawals by Ukrainian consumers is planned to be lower than in the previous WGP. Thus, the accumulated gas in storage facilities is sufficient to get through the winter. In addition, Ukraine has about a month before the start of the heating season to accumulate additional volumes of gas in storage facilities," the statement said.
In addition, since the beginning of September, Naftogaz of Ukraine has started pumping natural gas from Europe, purchased with EBRD funds, to create additional reserves for the winter. According to ExPro, in September the company pumped about 158 million cubic metres of natural gas into the "customs warehouse" of Ukrainian underground storage facilities. In October, the volume of injection into the customs warehouse is expected to increase.
- Ukraine's huge natural gas storage facilities could still be a lifeline for Europe this winter, even after Russian attacks on them. This was stated in an interview with Politico by Oleksiy Chernyshov, Chairman of the Board of Naftogaz Group. He also added that Ukraine already has sufficient gas reserves to meet its own needs in the winter. Read more about this in LB.ua's article “Ukrainian storage facilities are waiting for European gas”.