Ukraine may need to import 6.3 bcm of gas for next winter as reserves hit record low
KYIV, April 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine may need to import up to 6.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas for the 2025/26 winter season as reserves have fallen to a record low due to war-related damage to some facilities, the former head of its gas transit operator said on Sunday.
Ukraine has been forced to ramp up gas withdrawals from storage and increase imports this winter and spring after Russian missile attacks damaged production facilities in the east of the country, Serhiy Makogon said on Telegram messenger.
Quoting data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), he said that the storage level was "the lowest ever" at 0.7 bcm - 2.22% of full storage capacity - as of April 16, the end of the winter and spring season.
Makogon said the country would need to collect at least 12.8 bcm of gas in reserve, including 4.6 bcm of process - or buffer - gas that is needed to ensure sufficient pressure in storage facilities.
"According to my calculations, given the volume of domestic production, this will require imports of at least 5.5 bcm of gas, preferably 6.3 bcm," Makogon said.
He noted that Ukraine's state oil and gas firm Naftogaz had announced the required volume of imports at a lower level of 4.6 bcm.
Makogon said that even this amount would cost the country up to $3 billion, although existing available funds were enough to purchase only 0.4 bcm.
Naftogaz and the government would need to find significant funds to bridge the gap, he said.
There was guaranteed capacity to pump gas into storage of about 1.5 bcm per month and the country needs up to four months of imports at full capacity to meet that target, he added.
In March, the then head of the transit operator, Dmytro Lyppa, told Reuters that Ukraine needed to import at least 4 bcm of gas for the new heating season, and half of the volume could be liquefied gas, LNG.
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