Ukraine withdrawing 5 mcm-10 mcm of gas per day from underground storage facilities

MOSCOW. Dec 1 (Interfax) - Ukraine has continued over the past two weeks to withdraw insignificant amounts of gas from its underground storage facilities, standing at 5 million-10 million cubic meters (mcm) per day versus 45 mcm per day in the same period of 2023-2024, Ukrainian media reported, citing the country's former Energy Minister Olga Buslavets.

"Despite the decrease in production (by 5% from September 2025), Ukraine is withdrawing insignificant amounts from underground storage facilities for now (5 mcm-10 mcm per day versus an average of 45 mcm per day in the respective month in 2024-2023) thanks to air temperatures 3-5 degrees above normal and imports," media outlets quoted Buslavets as saying on social media.

According data from the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine, net gas imports into Ukraine (without transit short-haul shipments) have topped 24 mcm-26 mcm per day over the past two days, coming from Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, as well as in small amounts from Moldova and Romania.

Europe's Aggregated Gas Storage Inventory (AGSI) platform, for its part, said that Ukraine started to steadily withdraw insignificant amounts of gas from underground gas storage facilities on November 6.

Ukraine's underground gas storage facilities currently contain 13.1 billion cubic meters (bcm), including 4.7 bcm of long-term buffer stocks, which is 11% more than in 2024.

Meanwhile, due to low air temperatures, the levels at Europe's underground gas storage facilities fell by more than 3 bcm to 83.4 bcm last week, meaning that the storage facilities are now 77% full, which is 11% below the average levels over the past five years, and is 12%, or by 11 bcm, below last year's level.

Naftogaz of Ukraine CEO Sergei Koretsky said earlier that Ukraine needs additional gas imports of slightly over 4 bcm for stable operation in the 2025-2026 heating season. According to Koretsky, Ukraine requires $1.9 billion to fund these extra gas imports, a significant portion of which has already been secured.

Naftogaz Supervisory Board deputy head Natalia Boiko, in turn, said that due to damage to Ukrainian infrastructure, the country's natural gas production could fall nearly one-third short of the target.