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.
