Photo: Energy Front

Ukraines' state oil and gas company Naftogaz is interested in expanding cooperation with energy companies of other countries — in particular, regarding the storage of their gas reserves in Ukrainian underground storage facilities, said the head of the company Oleksiy Chernyshov.

During the visit to Turkiye, the Naftogaz chief discussed the prospects of cooperation in the energy sector with the country's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar.

"The main topics are storage of Turkish gas reserves in Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities and trading in [gas]," Chernyshov said.

He also met with the president of the Azerbaijani oil and gas corporation SOCAR Rovshan Najaf.

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"We discussed the prospects of cooperation in the oil and gas industry, including the possibility of storing Azerbaijani gas in Ukrainian gas storage facilities," said the head of Naftogaz of Ukraine.

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Reference
Ukraine has 13 underground gas storage facilities, capable of storing approximately as much as the entire country consumes during the year – 32 billion cubic meters. The design capacity of Ukrainian UGSFs corresponds to the storage volumes of Hungary, Austria, France and Italy combined. In terms of size, the Ukrainian underground facilities are the largest in Europe and the third in the world after the United States and Russia.

More than 200 European traders use the Ukrainian gas transmission system and underground gas storage facilities, and their number continues to grow, Deputy Minister of Energy Mykola Kolisnyk said in April during an online speech at the Budapest LNG Summit.

Ukraine extended until April 1, 2025 the current tariffs for gas storage in underground storage facilities. One of Naftogaz's key goals for 2024 is to increase the amount of gas that foreign energy companies store in Ukrainian underground storage facilities, the head of Naftogaz said.

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From July 1, 2022, the established tariff (without VAT) of Ukrtransgaz for storage is UAH 0.40 ($0.01) per 1,000 cubic meters per day, for injection – UAH 243.5 ($6.18) per 1,000 cubic meters per day, for withdrawal – UAH 253 ($6.42) per 1,000 cubic meters per day.

Last year, Ukraine stored 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas from foreign partners in its underground gas storage facilities.

During negotiations in Brussels in April 2023, Ukraine offered the European Union a third of its own gas storage facilities.

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Ukrtransgaz has passed certification as a gas storage operator according to European rules.

Ukrainian underground storage facilities have helped Europe curb the rise in gas prices.

AzerbaijanNaftogazTürkiyeOleksiy Chernyshovunderground gas storage facilitiesSOCAR