Early end of heating season in Ukraine to save up to 500 mln cubic meters of gas - Naftogaz CEO

MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax) - Naftogaz of Ukraine CEO Alexei Chernyshov hopes to wrap up the heating season by the end of this week thanks to the warm weather, thus saving a substantial amount of gas.

"We have saved approximately 500 million cubic meters of gas," Ukrainian media quoted Chernyshov as saying.

He added that, despite saving gas this year, it would be premature to discuss the resumption of gas exports, although Ukraine "is on track to obtain the exporter status."

Gas prices for households are still regulated and limited to 7.96 hryvni per cubic meter, Chernyshov said.

The real price based on supply and demand is around 12,000 hryvni per 1,000 cubic meters, and Naftogaz covers the difference, thus actually subsidizing the population.

Ukraine consumed 19.6 billion cubic meters of gas in 2023, including 3.4 billion cubic meters consumed by industries, with the gross production of 18.9 billion cubic meters, including 3.1 billion cubic meters extracted by private companies.

Ukraine had 16 billion cubic meters of gas in underground storages in November 2023, and the stored amounts decreased to 8.1 billion cubic meters by mid-March 2024.

The official exchange rate for March 29 is 39.22 hryvni to the dollar.