Platts: Ukraine says some European companies want to use its gas storage

Some European energy companies are seeking to use Ukraine's vast underground natural gas storage capacity for storage of gas for the high-demand season, an official at the national energy company Naftogaz Ukrayiny said Tuesday.

Ukraine, a major transit country for Russian gas exports to Europe, controls some of the biggest natural gas storage capacity in Europe near its border with the European Union.

"We offer Europe an opportunity to use resources of Ukrainian underground storage facilities to store their own gas," Naftogaz deputy chairman Vadym Chuprun said at a press conference. "Some companies are interested in this." 

Chuprun said Naftogaz is in talks with a German company on the issue, which had already offered its own terms, but he did not elaborate.

Ukraine is capable of holding up to 32 billion cubic meters of gas in its underground facilities, and the gas is usually used during the high demand season when gas consumption in Europe increases.  MORE