Ukraine Storage to Exceed Minimum Level

Ukraine is continuing to inject gas into storage, with another 2.4bn m³ going in last month, the monopoly Naftogaz Ukrainy said September 2. The country now has 18.3bn m³ stored, against a recommended minimum of 20bn m³ by the start of the withdrawal season. As of August 31, 2018 it had 14.6bn m³ and it had 14.8bn m³ on the same date in 2017. Spot gas prices are lower this year than in past years.

Assuming that the withdrawal season starts no earlier than mid-October it could inject over 3.5bn m³ more. Typically with depleted gas fields, injection rates slow down sharply by the end of summer as the pressure inside increases. However, these storage facilities can hold over 30bn m³ in aggregate, suggesting that the injection rate could remain at this level, as long as the price of gas does not go up.