Ukraine as of Sept. 15, 2014 had accumulated 16.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas in its underground storage facilities, or 2.2 billion cubic meters more than as of Sept. 15, 2013, the press service of public joint-stock company Ukrtransgaz reported on Wednesday 17.
The press service said that today only Germany has larger gas stocks in Europe today, where around 20.1 billion cubic meters of gas is accumulated, and Italy is third with gas stocks of some 15.6 billion cubic meters.
‘Ukraine has the largest underground storage facilities in Europe. Now we’re among leaders in natural gas stocks in underground storage facilities. Ukrainian underground storage facilities are only 51 percent full. Germany and Italy have almost no vacant space: their storage facilities are over 90 percent full,’ reads the report, citing Ukrtransgaz Board Chairman Ihor Prokopiv.
‘Ukrainian underground storage facilities are a strategic resource for strengthening Europe’s energy security. For Ukraine and our European partners this is a chance of accumulating gas in the summer period when the prices are the lowest. Ukrainian underground storage facilities could be a powerful tool for creating the European gas reserve,’ Naftogaz Ukrainy Board Chairman Andriy Kobolev has said.
According to tentative data from the central dispatch department of Ukrtransgaz, as of Sept. 15, 2014, as of Sept. 15, 2014 natural gas was pumped to six underground storage facilities in the mode of 34.9 million cubic meters a day.
Ukraine has 13 underground gas storage facilities with a total capacity of around 32 billion cubic meters. Ukrtransgaz operates 12 storage facilities (31 billion cubic meters) and Chornomornaftogaz the other one (1 billion cubic meters).
