Ukraine beats the government storage target

Ukraine's gas storage facilities contained 17bn m³ of working gas by August 1, beating the government target by about ten weeks, the company said August 2.

The volume includes 3.9bn m³ of gas belonging to foreign traders under the favourable "customs warehouse" regime, and private domestic companies, it added. It said it was assuming that private companies would sell their gas in Ukraine and not abroad, in normal market conditions.

Meanwhile, Naftogaz is continuing to import gas for injection as its own plans envisage a greater need for storage, said CEO Yurii Vitrenko. 

Underground storage is operated by UkrTransgaz, which is a subsidiary of the gas trade and supply business, Naftogaz. Its total capacity is 31bn m³ in 12 facilities, which were former gas fields. Like Russia, Ukraine measures its gas under different conditions, meaning the volumes are fractionally inflated compared with standard cubic metres.