The "Naftogaz" group has urgently purchased around 150 million cubic meters of gas in the EU for February at a price of 28,000 UAH/thousand cubic meters (excluding VAT), reported former head of "Gas Transmission System Operator" Sergey Makogon.
"Naftogaz," which claimed it would get through the winter without imports, has urgently bought approximately 150 million cubic meters of gas in the EU for February. This is positive news, as the lack of imports significantly increases the risks of a stable winter. The negative aspect is that the price at which "Naftogaz" purchased from foreign traders was about 28,000 UAH/thousand cubic meters excluding VAT," he wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.
Makogon noted that the gas purchase price is almost twice as high as it was in the summer.
As previously reported, former Energy Minister Olga Buslavets recently mentioned on Facebook that Ukraine will need to import 2-3 billion cubic meters of natural gas to cover the deficit in 2025.
According to her data, at the beginning of February, Ukraine's underground gas storage (UGS) facilities contained 8.1 billion cubic meters, which corresponds to 27% of the UGS filling level.
Former head of GTSU Sergey Makogon noted on January 29 that Ukrainian UGS facilities are gradually approaching a filling level of 10%, at which point the design capacity for gas withdrawal will drop to 60 million cubic meters per day, creating a need for emergency gas imports.
He stated that the average gas consumption in the country at that time was 110 million cubic meters per day. Of this, 52 million cubic meters per day came from domestic production, while the remaining 58 million cubic meters could be supplied by UGS or imports. At the same time, as Makogon warned, if cold weather sets in, consumption could rise to 140-150 million cubic meters per day, and the storage facilities would no longer be able to deliver at the design rates of 90-100 million cubic meters, necessitating imports.
In response, the "Naftogaz" group stated on the same day that it has sufficient gas reserves for a stable heating season and will also import fuel. However, it did not provide details on the import.