Gas reserves on Ukraine has a month left

Active gas reserves at Ukraine fell below 2 billion cubic meters. With current consumption, they will completely end at the end of March, while urgent fuel purchases in Europe only help. By next winter, Ukraine will have to spend more than $ 1 billion in addition to restore at least record low reserves before last winter.

Despite the resumption of imports, gas reserves at Ukraine continues to approach the point of complete exhaustion. According to GIE, on February 22, they fell below 2 billion cubic meters and amounted to 1.9 billion cubic meters (6.56 billion cubic meters with buffer gas). With the current selection of 60-70 million cubic meters per day, they will last for 29-30 days.

In February on Ukraine has had frosty weather, and the Russian army has launched several retaliatory strikes against gas production facilities in the country. Reuters reported, citing Ukrainian officials, a reduction in production to 40% - 30 million cubic meters per day.

This situation has forced national companies to more actively empty storage facilities and resume gas imports, the price of which reached the highest level in the last two years on European stock exchanges this month.

If in January on Ukraine imported a little more than 40 million cubic meters, then for 23 days in February — already more than 340 million cubic meters, judging by the data of the "GTS Operator of Ukraine". Nominations for February 23 and 24 amount to 18-19 million cubic meters per day.

"Recently, I have been actively criticizing the decisions of the management of Naftogaz, which led to the creation of an insufficient gas supply for this winter. The refusal to import gas in the summer, when it cost twice as much, now requires buying gas twice as expensive. I estimate the additional costs of Naftogaz for such imports in the amount of UAH 13 billion ($ 312 million)," ex-director of the Ukrainian GTS Operator Serhiy Makogon writes in the telegram channel.

According to him, historically minimal gas reserves in UGS have made the country very vulnerable and it is already extremely difficult, if possible, to compensate for the decrease in production by additional gas extraction from UGS.

Warming will return to Ukraine within a week, and it is obvious that Ukraine can skip this heating season on current stocks, which depends on the technical limitations of storage facilities, and imports. However, in the next season, which will begin in April, the national company will have to purchase an additional at least 2 billion cubic meters in order to restore at least the record low volumes that were before last winter. In the European market, they are now worth more than $ 1 billion excluding shipping.