“Naftogaz has put into operation a new exploration well with a daily flow rate of 150 thousand cubic meters of gas, the group’s press service reports.
According to it, the well depth is 5400 meters. Construction of a site for the next exploration well has also begun at the field.
“Increasing gas production is of strategic importance for the energy security of our country in times of war. I thank my colleagues for their consistent and effective work in this direction,” said Roman Chumak, acting CEO of Naftogaz.
As reported, Naftogaz Group companies Ukrgasvydobuvannya and Ukrnafta produced more than 13.5 bcm of natural gas in January-November 2024.
In January-November this year, Ukrainian companies increased imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 6.1% year-on-year to $127.286 million.
According to customs statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine on Monday, exports of copper and copper products increased by 24.5% to $81.110 million over the period under review.
In November, Ukraine imported copper worth $11.033 million and exported it worth $8.129 million.
As reported, in 2023, Ukraine increased imports of copper and copper products by 2.2 times compared to 2022 – up to $140.795 million, while exports decreased by 20.1% to $72.078 million.
Copper is widely used in electrical engineering, pipe manufacturing, alloys, medicine and other industries.
Oil prices are rising on Monday amid weak trading activity before the Christmas holidays.
On Wednesday, stock exchanges in the US, UK, Germany, France and other European countries, as well as Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia, will be closed for Christmas. Many sites will remain closed on Thursday as well.
The cost of February futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:20 a.m. is $73.27 per barrel, which is $0.33 (0.45%) higher than at the close of the previous trading. On Friday, these contracts fell by $0.06 (0.1%) to $72.94 per barrel.
Futures for WTI for February in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) have risen in price by this time by $0.38 (0.55%) to $69.84 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, the value of these contracts increased by $0.08 (0.1%) to $69.46 per barrel.
Last week, Brent fell by 2.1%, WTI – by 1.9%.
On Monday, traders are evaluating the statements of US President-elect Donald Trump, who demanded that the Panama Canal Authority reduce the fee for the passage of ships through this waterway. Otherwise, Washington may regain control of this facility, Trump said.
“Trump’s threats and rhetoric in the international arena are mostly just noise for the oil markets at the moment,” said Vanda Hari, founder of Vanda Insights in Singapore. – “Given the low trading activity and the lack of strong market signals, I expect the sideways trend to continue until the end of the year.
Experts at Haitong Futures, whose review was cited by The Wall Street Journal on Monday, note that the US statistics released on Friday showed a weaker-than-expected increase in the Federal Reserve’s key inflation indicator (PCE index). This somewhat eased investors’ fears of a sharp slowdown in the pace of policy easing by the US Central Bank, Haitong said in a review.
Passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border this week (December 14-20) jumped by 28.1% compared to the previous week to 584 thousand people as the Christmas and New Year holidays approached.
According to the State Border Guard Service’s Facebook page, the number of crossings for exit increased from 233 thousand to 294 thousand, while the number of crossings for entry increased from 223 thousand to 290 thousand.
The number of vehicles crossing the checkpoints increased from 120,000 to 134,000 over the week, while the flow of vehicles carrying humanitarian aid increased from 595,000 to 633,000.
“Due to the pre-Christmas period, passenger traffic at the checkpoints in Lviv region increased by 25%. The dynamics of border crossing shows a slight advantage of citizens leaving Ukraine over entering. At the same time, there is a general increase in passenger traffic both entering and leaving Ukraine, which is why there is an accumulation of vehicles at some checkpoints,” the State Border Guard Service said.
According to the State Border Guard Service, while last Saturday 42 thousand vehicles were leaving Ukraine and 40 thousand were entering, this Saturday the number of vehicles was 66 thousand and 67 thousand, respectively, and the number of vehicles increased from 21 thousand to 24 thousand.
On the border with Poland, the highest traffic dynamics as of 12:00 is recorded at the checkpoints Krakovets (140 cars), Shehyni and Ustyluh (90 each), Nyzhankovychi (75) and Smolnytsia (65), slightly less – at Hrushev (60), Uhryniv and Rava-Ruska (40).
At the border with Hungary, the longest queue is at Vylok with 70 cars, while the rest of the checkpoints – Kosyno, Luzhanka, Tisa, and Dzvinkove – have between 40 and 30 cars.
At the Maly Berezny checkpoint on the border with Slovakia, 65 cars have accumulated, while at Uzhhorod, 45 cars have accumulated, and there are no queues at the border with Romania and Moldova.
The total number of people crossing the border in the third week of winter this year is slightly lower than last year’s: 290,000 people left Ukraine and 314,000 entered during the same seven days, with a traffic flow of 133,000 cars. Last year, this week, passenger traffic increased by 33.3%, while the following week it decreased by 3.6%.
As reported, on May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine, which began with the outbreak of war, was replaced by an influx that lasted until September 23, 2022 and amounted to 409 thousand people. However, since the end of September, possibly under the influence of news about mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, and then massive shelling of energy infrastructure, the number of people leaving has been exceeding the number of people entering. It temporarily stopped in the second half of December and early January during the holidays, but then resumed again and reached a total of 223 thousand people from the end of September 2022 to the first anniversary of the full-scale war.
During the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings to leave Ukraine, according to the State Border Guard Service, exceeded the number of crossings to enter by 25 thousand, while since the beginning of the third year, the number of crossings to enter has increased by another 198 thousand.
As Deputy Economy Minister Serhiy Sobolev noted in early March last year, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP. In its macroeconomic forecast for this year, the Ministry of Economy has included 1.5 million people returning to Ukraine.
At the same time, the National Bank, in its October inflation report, again downgraded its forecast for the outflow from Ukraine this year from 0.4 million to 0.5 million. In absolute terms, the number of migrants staying abroad is expected to increase to 6.8 million this year.
According to updated UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe was estimated at 6.254 million as of December 16 this year, and 6.814 million in the world as a whole, which is 28 thousand more than as of November 18 this year.
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data as of August this year, there were 3.669 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), which is 121 thousand more than in April this year.
According to regional authorities cited by the UN, more than 128,000 people have left Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine since August 1, including 24,000 who fled active hostilities, while approximately 330,000 remain in the region, including approximately 63,000 in active combat zones.
In Sumy region, the authorities estimate that 36,000 people, including 6,000 children, were evacuated between August 1 and October 3.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov announced the start of construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad.
“The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad construction project, which for decades remained only on paper, is finally being realized. On December 27, official construction work will begin,” Zhaparov said at the third People’s Kurultai.
According to him, the railroad will become a strategic bridge between East and West, opening new opportunities for trade, tourism and industry.
In addition, the opening of the Bedel checkpoint on the border with China will strengthen the transit potential of the republic, accelerate the flow of cargo and passengers, create new business opportunities and strengthen trade ties with key partners, the Kyrgyz leader said.
Kyrgyzstan June 27 ratified an agreement with China and Uzbekistan on the railroad project. Under the trilateral agreement, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad will run along the route Kashgar (PRC) – Torugart (on the border of Kyrgyzstan and PRC) – Makmal (Kyrgyzstan) – Jalalabad (Kyrgyzstan) – Andijan (Uzbekistan).
According to experts’ estimates, the annual volume of freight traffic along this highway may reach up to 15 million tons, and the time of delivery of goods to final consumers will be reduced by seven days compared to the existing routes. Transit and logistics infrastructure, warehouses and terminals will be created.
The construction of the railroad is tentatively estimated at about $8 bln.
