Ukraine starts building gas reserves for winter as Russian strikes hurt output
Ukraine, forced to boost gas imports after Russia damaged its gas production infrastructure, has begun storing gas in its underground facilities in preparation for the next heating season, European AGSI data showed on Thursday.
Since last autumn, Russia has been attacking the Ukrainian power grid nearly daily, targeting both power stations and gas fields, most of which are located in frontline regions.
Before the war with Russia, Ukraine met almost all of its gas needs through domestic production. But Russian strikes have meant that Ukraine has lost about half its gas output, the central bank governor said late last year.
AGSI data, based on information from state-run Ukrtransgaz, showed that Ukraine began building gas reserves regularly over the weekend, injecting an average of around 130 gigawatt-hours per day.
The Ukrainian gas transmission operator said the country planned to receive 25.2 MMm3 of gas on Thursday, including 10.2 MMm3 from Poland and 8.4 MMm3 from Hungary. Ukraine imported 26.1 MMm3 of gas on Wednesday.
UNDERGROUND STORAGE 16% FULL SO FAR. Ukraine's underground storage facilities, among the largest in Europe, were nearly 16% full as of March 17, the data showed.
Earlier this month, energy minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine intends to start the 2026–2027 heating season with at least 13 Bm3 of gas in its underground storage facilities – roughly the same volume as in the previous season.
Since the start of the war with Russia, Ukraine has not disclosed full details of its gas imports.
The government has previously said it intended to import pipeline gas and increase imports of American liquefied natural gas this year.
Consultancy DiXi Group said on Thursday that Ukraine had cut gas consumption last year by 4% to 21 Bm3, and residents made up 36% of consumption, or 7.6 Bm3.
Industries consumed 5 Bm3 of gas in 2025, heating producers 3.9 Bm3, municipal and budget bodies consumed 2.5 Bm3 and losses totaled 2 Bm3, the consultancy said.
Ukraine's gas consumption totaled 30.3 Bm3 before the war in 2021 but that sank to 20.3 Bm3 in 2022.
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