The Ukrainian underground storage facilities are operating as usual with regard to the injection and withdrawal of natural gas, including by foreign traders.
The corresponding statement was made by Chairman and CEO of Naftogaz Group Oleksiy Chernyshov in a commentary for the Financial Times, a Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“No problems, we are working as usual,” Chernyshov commented on the input and output of natural gas.
Citing data from the Argus consulting company, the publication noted that in June and July 2024, European companies sent 15.4 million cubic meters and 51.9 million cubic meters to Ukrainian underground deposits, respectively. For comparison, in these months last year, the figure was 102.7 million cubic meters and 586.6 million cubic meters, respectively.
“This year, the feed-in rate has decreased somewhat due to Russian attacks on the gas infrastructure. However, the main trading factor remains the spread. Today’s gas prices are not profitable enough for traders to build reserves,” Naftogaz commented.
The company also mentioned that in 2023, the maximum feed-in rate was recorded in August and September and the season lasted until October.
European underground gas storage facilities will soon be full, as they were already 86% full in the first third of August 2024. In the meantime, Naftogaz will offer plenty of free space in underground gas storage facilities in September and October to inject natural gas.
In addition, the company is consistently working to further protect its infrastructure.
As a reminder, on July 22, 2024, more than 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas were stored in Ukraine’s underground deposits. By the start of the heating season, more than 13 billion cubic meters of natural gas are expected to have accumulated.
