Ukraine boosts gas inventories by 80% since end of heating season
Ukraine has increased gas inventories in underground storage 80% or 6.478 billion cubic meters (bcm) since the end of the heating season, according to operational data from Ukrtransgaz.
The inventories amounted to 14.578 bcm on August 26, up from 8.1 bcm on March 22, Interfax reports.
The current inventories are 19.6% more than on August 26, 2016 (12.193 bcm), 2.6% more than on August 26, 2015 (14.209 bcm) and 6.5% less than on August 26, 2014 (15.592 bcm), according to Interfax-Ukraine calculations.
Ukraine injected 1.401 bcm of gas into underground storage from August 1 through August 26, 2017 (52.88 million cubic meters (mcm) a day on average), compared with 52.82 mcm a day on average in July, 49.88 mcm a day on average in June and 51.86 mcm a day on average in May.
If Ukraine injects about 50 mcm a day into underground storage in August-September 2017, it would enter the 2017/2018 heating season with about 16 bcm in storage. It had 14.7 bcm in storage when the 2016/2017 heating season began in mid-October 2016.
The action plan to prepare the energy complex to the autumn and winter period 2017-2018 approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine envisages that Ukraine by November 1, 2017 will accumulate 17 bcm of gas in underground storage facilities.
