In January 2021, 2.6 bcm of gas withdrawn from Ukrainian UGS – a third more than last year
The Storage System Operator of Ukraine has ended January 2021 with the highest gas reserves for the last 10 years. As on February 1, 20.9* bcm of gas were stored in underground storage facilities. At the same time, the volumes of gas withdrawal from domestic UGS' in January 2021 exceeded indicators for the same period last year by 33%, reaching 2.6 bcm.
In January 2021, Ukrainian underground storage facilities worked smoothly and fully proved to be a stabilizing factor in Ukraine's energy system. On the coldest days of the month, in particular, on January 19, the total gas consumption in Ukraine has reached 190 mcm. 143 mcm were withdrawn from UGS that day, providing 75% of the country's gas consumption.
Gas withdrawal from UGS
Since the beginning of the 2020/2021 heating season, 7.3 bcm of gas have been withdrawn from Ukrainian UGS, which is 52% more than in the same period last year. Including 2.6 bcm, which were extracted in January of this year.
Use of «Customs warehouse» ** and «short haul» *** services
As on February 1, 2021, foreign traders store 6.7 bcm of gas in the "Customs Warehouse" regime. This is 4.9 times more comparing to the same period last year. This includes 4.5 bcm accumulated in the "short-haul" regime.
Resident companies store 0.8 billion cubic meters in the Customs Warehouse regime, which is 2.6 times more than in 2020. This includes 0.5 bcm accumulated in the "short-haul" regime.
Natural gas export from UGS
In January 2021, more than 0.233 bcm of gas were exported from Ukrainian underground storage facilities. Of these, 0.166 bcm were exported to Hungary. Export to Poland and Slovakia amounted, respectively, 0.061 bcm and 0.006 bcm.
Natural gas reserve in UGS
As on February 1, 2021, the reserve of natural gas in Ukrainian UGS is 20.9* bcm. This is 25% higher comparing to the last year.
«On some days in January our underground storage facilities were loaded up to multi-year highs. However, despite the sharp increase in demand, the Storage System Operator has fulfilled all its obligations to both foreign customers and Ukrainian consumers. With the available gas reserves in UGS in the coming weeks, we'll be able to increase the volume of withdrawal to 160 million cubic meters per day if such a need arises. UGS facilities are ready for this», – noted Sergiy Pereloma, acting general director of Ukrtransgaz JSC.
* not including the reserves of Vergunske UGS, located on temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region;
** «Customs warehouse» is a custom regime, which allows the client to save natural gas in storage facilities of Ukraine up to 1095 days without paying taxes and customs duties;
*** «Short haul» is a service that gives the opportunity to receive a discount on transportation between certain points of entry or exit on inter-state connections (power with restrictions), including for further storage of natural gas in Ukrainian UGS.