Gas stocks in USFs hit decade-high as of Jan 1 – GTS operator

LLC Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) has said natural gas stocks in the country's underground storage facilities (USFs) grew by 25% as of January 1, 2021, from January 1, 2020, to 23.5 billion cubic meters (bcm), which was a record high value over the decade.

"At the beginning of 2021, domestic USFs were filled with 23.5 bcm of gas, which was the highest figure at the beginning of the new year in the past decade," the GTSOU's press service said in a statement.

Some 7.7 bcm of said volume belongs to foreign companies from 24 countries.

Read alsoGas stocks shrink by 2% to 23.6 bcm over weekIn October-December 2020, 4.6 bcm of gas was pumped out from Ukrainian USFs, which was 60% up year-over-year, the report said.

In total, 7.8 bcm of gas was withdrawn from the underground storage facilities in 2020.

Background

Ukraine started pumping natural gas into its USFs on March 11, 2020, as the country's reserves stood 15.808 bcm.

On October 28, National Joint-Stock Company Naftogaz of Ukraine said it had stopped injecting gas into the underground storage facilities, having switched to pumping it out to cover the needs of the 2020-2021 heating season. Ukraine had accumulated over 28 bcm of gas as of said date.