Over 60 mcm of gas transported to Ukraine in Jan-Feb 2024

MOSCOW. March 15 (Interfax) - More than 60 million cubic meters of natural gas were delivered to Ukraine in January-February 2024, mainly for short-haul storage.

"Foreign customers continue to transport natural gas to Ukraine despite a variety of challenges. According to information on auction platforms, traders are actively booking the capacity of neighboring operators of the Gas Transmission System [GTS] to transport gas to Ukraine in the second and third quarters of 2024," Ukrainian media outlets quoted Operator of the Gas Transmission System of Ukraine (OGTSU) LCC as saying on social media.

The early start of foreign gas transportation to Ukraine is a positive assessment of the company's performance, OGTSU CEO Dmitry Lippa said.

"Through the positive results of last year's stress test of the GTS and underground gas storage facilities we confirmed the stability and reliability of their operations this winter. Operator of the Gas Transmission System of Ukraine proved to European traders that it is a predictable and reliable partner, which fulfills its obligations accurately and promptly," Lippa said.

As reported, Naftogaz Group's JSC Ukrtransgaz and OGTSU will conduct further stress tests this spring to confirm the reliability of Ukraine's gas transport system and underground storage facilities (USFs) for operations in conditions of crisis and the potential cessation of Russian gas transit. The results of the stress tests will be published before the start of the pumping season, i.e. in late April 2024.

Naftogaz Group said in February that similar tests were conducted in 2023, and their positive results helped encourage a larger number of foreign traders and energy companies to begin storing their gas in Ukrainian USFs. Foreign traders and energy companies stored 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas in Ukraine's USFs in 2023. Naftogaz aims to increase this amount to 4 bcm in 2024.