Ukraine in May 2019 increased natural gas stocks in its underground storage facilities by 1.95 billion cubic meters (bcm), according to recent update from JSC Ukrtransgaz.
Thus, daily average pumping last month was 62.9 million cubic meters (mcm), which is more than in May 2018 (52.6 mcm), May 2017 (51.9 mcm), May 2016 (15.3 mcm) and May 2015 (57.3 mcm).
Retaining the pace of pumping in next four and a half months would allow Ukraine to start the heating season with 20 bcm of gas in stock.
Ukraine from April 4 through June 1, 2019 increased natural gas stocks in its underground storage facilities by 31% or 2.713 billion cubic meters (bcm), to 11.459 bcm.
According to the calculations of the Interfax-Ukraine agency, the figure is 19.1% more than stocks on June 1, 2018 and 13.6% more than on June 1, 2017.
On June 1, 2019, 70.32 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas was pumped into the underground storage facilities and 54.4 mcm of gas was imported with domestic production of 56.6 mcm.
Earlier Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev said that national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy is mulling a possibility of pumping an additional volume of gas to the underground gas storage facilities of Ukraine if Russia’s Gazprom stops gas transit across the country after 2019. Ukraine plans to have around 20 bcm of gas in stocksat the beginning of the next heating season.
During the heating season started on November 7, 2018 and lasted until April 4, 2019 some 8.45 bcm of gas was pumped from the underground gas storage facilities. The stocks fell from 17.195 bcm to 8.745 bcm.
Ukrtransgaz, a wholly owned subsidiary of Naftogaz Ukrainy, operates Ukraine’s gas transmission system and 12 underground gas storage facilities with 31 bcm of capacity.
UDP Renewables (Kyiv) plans by the end of 2019 jointly with Spain’s Acciona Energia Global to build two solar power plants in Odesa region with a capacity of almost 44 MW.
According to a report of UDP Renewables on its Facebook page, the total investment in the projects reached EUR 30.6 million. Construction works will start this week.
New solar power plants Hudzovka-Solar (Izmail) and Artsyz-Solar (the area of Pavlivka rural council) will have the peak capacity of 26 MW and 17.7 MW and the projected capacity of 19.8 MW and 13.5 MW respectively.
As reported, UDP Renewables is part of the UFuture Investment Group with its head office in Brussels, which was established in the fall of 2017 and brought together business projects of Vasyl Khmelnytsky.
In June 2018, UDP Renewables announced an agreement with Acciona Energia Global on a joint project to expand the Dymerka solar power plant to 57.6 MW by introducing its second, third and fourth phases. The first phase of the station with a capacity of 6 MW was launched by UDP Renewables in September 2017. Currently, Acciona is the only participant in this project through Dymerka Solar Poland.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has received U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation to pay an official visit to Washington, the newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (Mirror Weekly) said on Saturday.
According to the newspaper, Zelensky received the invitation on May 31 and the visit may take place in August-September, “after a meeting between the U.S. president and the Russian one.”
Meanwhile, neither Washington, nor Kyiv have officially confirmed this information.
JSC Ukrgazvydobuvannia and Vermilion Ukraine Exploration have submitted joint application for developing four fossil fuel fields under product sharing agreements (PSA).
According to information presented at a meeting of the interdepartmental commission for organizing the signing of PSA, these are two joint bids for Sofiyivska, Ivanivska, Zinkivska and Balakliyska.
Vermilion Ukraine Exploration is a resident representation of Vermilion oil and gas company based in Canada.
Ukrgazvydobuvannia, fully owned by Naftogaz Ukrainy, is the country’s largest gas producing company, providing about 75% of the country’s total gas production.
