Reuters: Ukraine lost 40% of gas production due to Russian attacks, will import from Europe

Ukraine plans to import up to 800 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas from Europe in February and March 2025 to compensate for a 40% drop in production following Russian missile strikes, a senior industry source told Reuters.

In recent weeks, Russia has intensified attacks on Ukrainian gas fields. Ukrainian state gas firm Naftogaz and major private energy company DTEK said Russia had attacked and damaged their facilities at least twice in February.

Before the Russian attacks, Ukraine produced about 52 mcm of gas a day, while winter consumption ranged from 110 million to 140 mcm a day. The gas shortfall was covered by underground storage.

"We could do without imports this heating season, but the attacks on production are forcing us to import gas to compensate for this reduction in domestic production," said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive wartime matters.

At the same time, the source and representatives of Ukraine's energy sector did not disclose the current level of gas production.

According to the report, Ukraine has low gas reserves in storage. However, with planned imports and domestic production, the country should be able to get through the heating season without restrictions for industries and households.

Energy experts previously warned that gas reserves in storage were approaching a critically low level of 10% of storage capacity, which is about 30 billion cubic meters.

The source said that Ukraine needs to start injecting gas for the 2025/2026 winter season in the spring, requiring the country to accumulate about 13 bcm. At the beginning of the current season, Ukraine had 12.9 bcm of gas in storage facilities.

Ukraine's key gas production facilities are vulnerable to Russian attacks as they are located in the frontline Kharkiv oblast and neighboring Poltava.