Ukraine has started importing gas via Slovakia, according to a Facebook post by Serhiy Makogon, former head of the Ukrainian Gas Transmission System Operator (OGTSU).
“Previously, imports came from Hungary and Poland, but the cheaper Hungarian route is already fully loaded, so suppliers are forced to buy more expensive capacity from Slovakia,” he wrote.
According to the former head of GTSOU, the average daily import is currently around 14.5 million cubic meters, but in order to accumulate 13.6 billion cubic meters by November 1, imports need to be increased by 2-3 times. At the same time, Slovakia has the largest import capacity – 42 million cubic meters per day.
As reported with reference to Makogon, in order to achieve last year’s planned targets for gas reserves in underground storage facilities (UGS), Ukraine needs to import at least 5 billion cubic meters by November 1, i.e., approximately 870 million cubic meters per month or 29 million cubic meters per day.
He noted that $2-2.5 billion is needed to import the minimum 5 billion cubic meters, of which $0.4 billion has already been provided by donors and may be provided further. At the same time, he believes that funds for gas purchases can also be found within the country, in particular from the budget through direct recapitalization of Naftogaz or through debt repayment schemes involving mutual settlements.
According to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), Ukraine switched from gas withdrawal from underground storage facilities to gas injection on April 17. According to them, this season’s withdrawal lasted from November 1, when there were 87.037 TWh (8.315 billion cubic meters) in UGS facilities, and ended on April 16 at 7.062 TWh (0.675 billion cubic meters) – the lowest level in history.
GIE indicates that this year Ukraine ended the heating season with reserves at 2.22% of the maximum UGS capacity, while last year the withdrawal season ended on March 30 with reserves of 11.12 TWh (3.388 billion cubic meters), or 11.12% of the UGS capacity.
In turn, according to former Energy Minister Olga Buslavets, the total level of natural gas reserves in Ukrainian UGS facilities at the end of last week was 6.1 billion cubic meters (including 4.7 billion cubic meters of “buffer gas”), which is 31% lower than last year.
Over the past week, net gas imports to Ukraine (excluding short-haul) averaged 14.4 million cubic meters per day (from Hungary and Poland), while daily gas consumption in Ukraine rose to 30-33 million cubic meters per day, according to the European platform. per day (from Hungary and Poland), while daily gas consumption in Ukraine increased to 30-33 million cubic meters per day, which, according to the European platform
Agregated Gas Storage Inventory (AGSI), allows no more than 27 million cubic meters per day to be pumped into UGS facilities.
