Ukraine to enter August with 11.8 bcm of gas in UGS facilities - Naftogaz CEO

MOSCOW. July 28 (Interfax) - Ukraine should enter August with natural gas reserves of around 11.8 billion cubic meters in its underground gas storage (UGS) facilities, NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine CEO Yuriy Vitrenko said.

"We currently have 11.7 bcm of gas in the UGS facilities, and we pump an average of 34-35 million cubic meters per day, thus we should reach around 11.8 bcm of gas by August 1," Vitrenko told the media.

In addition to pumping gas from domestic production, the company is also importing and transferring gas purchased on European Union markets into the UGS facilities, Vitrenko said. The gas enters the country via Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland.

As previously reported, Ukraine had 11.3 bcm of natural gas in the UGS facilities as of mid-July. Naftogaz has been tasked with accumulating 19 bcm of gas in the UGS facilities by the beginning of the 2022/2023 heating season.

Vitrenko also believes that 15 bcm of gas reserves will be sufficient for the country, as domestic consumption has declined significantly.

He also said that Ukrgazvydobuvannya has stabilized gas production. "Now we are already beginning to stabilize production, we have reduced the rate of decline. Ideally, we will be able to stabilize production by the end of this year and increase it as soon as next year," Vitrenko said.

The expected increase in production is due to the beginning of the program of horizontal drilling, the Naftogaz chief said.

As reported, the company's management estimates that about 94% of the group's daily gas production is at high risk of termination.

Ukrgazvydobuvannya in 2021 reduced gross production of natural gas by 3.7% compared to 2020 - to 13.666 billion cubic meters and marketable gas - by 3.6% to 12 billion 932.5 million cubic meters. Production of liquid hydrocarbons decreased by 3.7% to 614,500 tonnes.

Last year the company drilled 50 new wells and connected them to surface infrastructure, performed 243 well workovers, carried out 609 coiled tubing operations, 105 hydraulic fracturing operations, 11 sidetracking operations and equipped 77 wells with mechanized production systems.

Naftogaz of Ukraine owns 100% of Ukrhazvydobuvannya shares.