Ukraine has sharply reduced gas withdrawals from storage facilities: stocks exceed last year’s levels
Ukraine significantly reduced the withdrawal of natural gas from underground storage facilities in early March.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by former Energy Minister Olha Buslavets.
According to her, the average daily intake has dropped to 5 million cubic meters, whereas in the previous three years this figure stood at around 22 million cubic meters.
Details
Buslavets noted that the reduction in gas production was made possible by a combination of domestic gas production and imports.
As of March, natural gas reserves in Ukrainian underground storage facilities stand at approximately 9.5 billion cubic meters, which is 3.7 billion cubic meters more than last year.
At the same time, gas consumption in Ukraine has dropped to 70–75 million cubic meters per day, which is believed to be due to the warm weather.
What is known about imports?
According to the gas transmission system operator, net gas imports in March amounted to approximately 24–25 million cubic meters per day.
Supplies come from Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, as well as, to a lesser extent, from Moldova and Romania.
Context
In Europe, the situation regarding gas reserves is considered to be more critical. Storage facilities are currently about 29% full, which is 30% below the five-year average and 17% lower than in 2025.
According to ICIS, the average price of natural gas in Ukraine as of March 20 was approximately 22,700 UAH per thousand cubic meters, excluding VAT, which is about 18% lower than the European TTF benchmark.
