Ukraine needs more gas in storage for winter, PM says

Ukraine has 10.4 billion cubic metres of gas in underground gas storage facilities, its prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, told a government meeting on Tuesday.

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"Currently, we have 1.5 million tonnes of coal in warehouses and 10.4 billion cubic metres of gas in storage facilities," Mr Shmyhal was quoted as saying.

"By the beginning of the heating season, we plan to reach 1.8 million tonnes of coal and 14.7 billion cubic metres of gas."

The target for winter gas reserves, at 9.3 billion cubic metres, has been fulfilled by about 20 percent over the last six weeks.

There are about four months left before the heating season if it is to start in early November, as it was last year.

This means Ukraine must accelerate gas injections to meet the target.

The average level of gas storage at the beginning of the heating seasons from 2011 to 2019 reached 17.9 bcm, with the minimum of 14.5 bcm in 2016.

In 2020, a record 28.3 bcm of gas was stored in Ukrainian UGS facilities before the start of the heating season.

In 2022, Ukraine entered the heating season with about 14.7 bcm of gas reserves, and 5.57 bcm were withdrawn from underground storage facilities during the winter.