Foreign traders are storing 2.2 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas in Ukraine’s underground gas storage (UGS) facilities, Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyishov said on Oct. 6.
There are 148 companies cooperating with the state-owned oil and gas company and the number continues to grow. Fourteen applicants applied to Naftogaz over the last day, the CEO said.
Foreign traders stored 1.3 bcm of gas at the end of August and 1.8 bcm in mid-September.
“Ukraine continues to integrate into the European energy system as a reliable partner and a "power bank" for gas storage in UGS facilities,” Chernyshov wrote on Facebook.
The Naftogaz Group oversees Europe’s largest underground gas storage (UGS) facilities capable of holding 31 bcm.
Companies from the European Union refused Naftogaz’s offer to store gas last year but have turned to Ukraine once again as Europe’s storage facilities are close to full.
The Naftogaz CEO previously told the Kyiv Independent that it has made 10 bcm available to non-resident traders at competitive storage tariffs.
Chernyshov said that Ukraine currently has over 15 bcm of gas in storage at the Forbes “Energy of Business” conference in Kyiv last week.
Ukraine will be fully self-reliant this year without the need to import gas volumes, according to the energy giant.
