Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine expects demand for gas storage in Ukrainian facilities to grow within next 3-5 years

MOSCOW. Oct 30 (Interfax) - The demand for storing gas in Ukrainian underground facilities will grow within the next three to five years, Ukrainian media quoted Dmitry Lippa, general director of the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine, as saying in a statement by the company's press service.

The company continues to attract foreign traders interested in transportation and storing of natural gas to Ukraine. Greece, Romania, Azerbaijan and Poland are among promising partners.

"We are forecasting a natural gas surplus of 10 billion cubic meters in Southern Europe within the next three to five years, so it could be transported for storage in Ukraine," Lippa said.

The available facilities on the border with Poland are so far insufficient for transporting large amounts of gas, he added.

"Still, they are fully booked, which is definitely a good sign. The development of LNG terminals will also lead to a gas surplus in Poland, and we are ready to transport it into Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities," Lippa said.

Optimization of the gas storage facilities' infrastructure, reducing gas use, and improvement of operating and maintenance practices are the current priorities of the operator, he said.

"The areas we are actively working on will bring a positive effect in the near future. Our European partners call it the rightsizing, the estimation of the optimal, economically feasible scope of operation of the gas transmission system," Lippa said.

The company is also working to shift to the mobile model of servicing gas distribution stations, he said.

"We are implementing the European approach: a technician comes to a facility, does the necessary work and moves to the next one. We will apply this approach to the entire system within the next three to four years," Lippa said.

As of the end of October 2023, foreign traders were storing over 2.4 billion cubic meters of gas in Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities.