The Norwegian government has allocated 1 billion Norwegian kroner ($98.3 million) to Ukraine for the purchase of natural gas, according to Serhiy Koretsky, CEO of Naftogaz Ukraine.
“This is a clear response from our partners to Russian terror aimed at depriving Ukrainians of heat in winter,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday.
According to Koretsky, Naftogaz will use these funds to purchase gas to meet the needs of the heating season.
“The assistance received will be an important contribution to a stable winter in 2025-2026 and to strengthening the country’s energy security,” he stressed.
As reported with reference to Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, on August 13, Naftogaz of Ukraine and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed an agreement for a renewable loan of EUR500 million.
“This is the bank’s largest project in our country.
But most importantly, this is the first time such a loan has been provided under an EU guarantee, without a state guarantee from Ukraine,” she commented.
In addition, in April, it was reported that Naftogaz of Ukraine had been granted a EUR270 million loan from the EBRD under a state guarantee to create strategic gas reserves, which Norway supplemented with a EUR139 million grant.
According to the EBRD, the total amount of its financing to Naftogaz of Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war in 2022 has reached EUR1.6 billion.
China increased oil production by 1.3% in January-July compared to the same period last year, to 126.6 million tons, according to the State Statistical Office.
In July alone, production rose by 1.2% to 18.12 million tons.
Oil refining for the seven months totaled 424.68 million tons, up 2.6% from the same period in 2024. In July alone, it rose 8.9% to 63.06 million tons.
Natural gas production in the country in January-July increased by 6% and reached 152.5 billion cubic meters, according to the GSU report. Last month, production rose by 7.4% to 21.6 billion cubic meters.
Ukrgasbank provided Naftogaz of Ukraine with a loan of UAH 4.7 billion for gas purchases, according to the company’s CEO Serhiy Koretsky.
“We are continuing to prepare for winter – another important step has been taken. Naftogaz has signed a loan agreement with Ukrgasbank (UGB) for UAH 4.7 billion. The funds received are already being used to purchase natural gas to build up sufficient reserves in underground gas storage facilities so that the country will be provided with energy resources this winter,” Koretsky wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday.
He expressed his gratitude to the management of Ukrgasbank and the government for their support.
As reported, on July 23, PrivatBank provided Naftogaz with the same loan of UAH 4.7 billion, which was the first for the company and the largest energy loan from the bank since the start of the war.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has published a long-term forecast for the period until 2050, according to which oil and natural gas will remain the main sources of energy, occupying more than half of the global energy balance. This confirms the importance of hydrocarbons in the global economy and the strategic nature of energy policy.
Oil and gas demand forecast
The key drivers are:
Contradictions with other forecasts
This outlook indicates that oil and gas will retain its prominent position for at least the next 25 years. And while renewable energy is rapidly gaining momentum, the transition away from the traditional energy system must be smooth and gradual, taking into account real economic and social factors.
On June 23, a second auction will be held for gas supplies to Ukraine from Greece via the Trans-Balkan corridor after the first auction on May 29 failed to take place, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and the Ukrainian Gas Transmission System Operator said on Thursday.
As noted in particular by the Ministry of Energy, Deputy Minister Mykola Kolisnyk called on traders to actively participate in booking the product.
“At the end of 2024, the guaranteed capacity was set at 7 million cubic meters per day. The parties are now working to increase the guaranteed capacity to 11.5 million cubic meters per day by 2025,” the ministry said.
According to Kolesnik, having a joint product in the form of gas transportation from other countries, in particular from Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania to Ukraine using an economically advantageous tariff, it is possible to increase the capacity and tariff revenues of each of the participating countries, as well as ensure the supply of non-Russian resources to the EU.
“This is a way to integrate our existing infrastructure into the pan-European infrastructure on fairly competitive terms and with resources to cover the consumption of Central and Eastern Europe,” the deputy minister noted.
As emphasized by Vladislav Medvedev, acting director general of OGTSU, for Ukraine, the Trans-Balkan pipeline means access to new sources of gas: liquefied gas coming from all over the world to Greek and Turkish LNG terminals; Azerbaijani gas transported via the TAP gas pipeline; and Romanian and potentially Bulgarian offshore gas.
“Currently, together with the TSO operators of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova, we have introduced a joint package product for gas imports from Greece to Ukraine on competitive terms until October 2025. This product temporarily resolves the issue of high tariffs along the route,” he said.
According to Medvedev, the next step is to develop a long-term commercial solution to enable gas transportation along the entire route to Central European markets.
As reported, the first auction on May 29 for booking capacity for gas transportation from Greece to Ukraine along the Trans-Balkan route for June in the amount of 2.9 million cubic meters per day ended without any bids from participants.
Gas transmission system operators in Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine have developed a scheme for supplying natural gas from Greece to Ukraine via the Trans-Balkan corridor. In particular, Bulgaria’s Bulgartransgaz EAD, Greece’s DESFA SA, Romania’s Transgaz SA, and Moldova’s VestMoldTransgaz SRL, together with Ukraine’s OGTSU, are jointly offering a route package product for natural gas supplies for the period from June to October 2025, which will facilitate gas transportation from Greece to Ukraine.
To increase the attractiveness of the route, the parties have agreed on a single gas transit tariff with a 25% discount. For the Ukrainian operator, the discount will be 46%.
The operators of the countries participating in the project will hold a single auction to allocate capacity at all points of the Trans-Balkan Corridor along the natural gas transportation route from Greece to Ukraine.
On the fourth Monday of each month, tenders will be held for the sale of capacity for the following calendar month. A single-price auction mechanism will be implemented for capacity allocation.
The proposed transport package can only be used for gas supplies to Ukraine. Previously, gas was not supplied to the country via the Trans-Balkan corridor.
Israel’s strikes on Iran’s gas infrastructure will push up gas prices in Europe, which means they may also rise in Ukraine, according to Andriy Kobolev, former head of the board of Naftogaz Ukraine.
“Israel has begun to destroy Iran’s gas infrastructure with drones… For those wondering what to do about gas purchases for this winter: this will have a significant impact on the balance (and therefore the price) of natural gas in Europe,” he wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
Kobolev explained that Iran had been supplying gas to Turkey, which resold it to the EU, but now, due to Israeli strikes, Iranian gas is at risk of being cut off, and the Turks will not be able to replace it with Russian gas because both gas pipelines are almost fully loaded.
“Therefore, Turkey will be forced to either reduce gas supplies to the EU or increase the share of more expensive LNG. In any case, this will push prices up in the EU. And if Israel continues to attack the Iranian gas sector, part of Russian gas may be redirected to Iran,” the former head of Naftogaz concluded, advising to prepare for such an impact on prices.
As reported, Ukraine was forced to return to significant gas imports from Europe due to Russian strikes on gas infrastructure.
According to the Ukrainian Gas Transmission System Operator (OGTSU), 501 million cubic meters were imported in May (54% via Hungary, 33% via Poland, and 12% via Slovakia), or 16.1 million cubic meters per day. At the same time, former OGTSU board chairman Serhiy Makogon believes that Ukraine needs to import approximately 870 million cubic meters per month, or 29 million cubic meters per day, to achieve last year’s planned gas storage targets in underground gas storage facilities (UGS).
