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9.0​ Industry & Sectors 9.1 ​Sector news
9.1.1​ Oil & gas sector news
Ukraine starts the winter heating season this week with natural gas reserves at a record 28.4bn cubic meters​. And today’s level is 30% above the level of this time last year, also a record, reports Naftogaz. With a total storage capacity of 31mnbcm, Ukraine’s underground reservoirs are 92% full, also a record. In the seven months since Naftogaz started storing gas last spring, the state company increased stocks by 80%.
Europe’s gas glut this summer benefitted Ukraine as 79 EU traders used Ukraine’s new duty free warehouse regime to store gas in 12 underground reservoirs. ​This fall, gas stored in this customs regime hit 11bcm, triple the level of 2017. With the five largest reservoirs within 160 km of Hungary, Ukraine supplied Hungary with a record 9bcm this year. “Thanks to market reform, Ukraine became Europe’s indisputable storage hub in 2020 as markets were facing suppressed demand linked to the pandemic and an underlying supply overhang,” writes Aura Sabadus, a senior energy journalistfor London’s Independent Commodity Intelligence Services, or ICIS.
On October 12 in Kyiv, PGNiG, Poland’s state oil and gas company, signed an investment agreement yesterday with US-based Energy Resources of Ukraine to jointly explore and produce oil and gas from a license area near Poland’s border with Lviv region. PGNiG President Jerzy Kwiecinski noted the block is an extension of Przemys´l geological field. He said: “Our employees have knowledge and expertise gained over 60 years of exploration and production operations in the Rzeszów region.”
Separately, Kwiecinski signed a confidentiality agreement with Ukraine’s State Property Fund to gain access to data on state energy properties coming up for sale. He said: “We believe that further energy market integration will contribute to strengthening energy security across the region.”
56​ UKRAINE Country Report​ November 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com