Page 67 - UKRRptSept22

9.0 Industry & Sectors 9.1 Sector news
9.1.1 Oil & gas sector news
Ukraine is preparing for a very difficult winter. The government instructed us to pump at least 19 billion cubic metres in total before the start of the heating season. For now only 11.8 billion cubic metres (62% of the required) are in storage. 5-6 bcm of these reserves are technical gas that the system needs to function and therefore cannot be used.
As of the end of August 2022, Ukraine has accumulated 13 billion cubic metres of natural gas in its underground gas storage (UGS) facilities, Head of Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) Serhiy Makogon said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The Gas Transmission System of Ukraine will operate in reverse mode if gas transit from Russia stops. As Serhiy Makogon, the head of the Ukraine GTS Operator, noted, the Ukrainian GTS has already worked in the reverse direction in 2006, 2009, and 2019, when Gazprom stopped transit. According to Markogon, the gas transportation volume has decreased significantly, which makes it possible to carry out the preparations necessary for switching the process of gas transportation or to apply non-standard solutions to provide gas to Ukrainian consumers and fulfil transit obligations. "We have prepared all the reverse schemes. If there is sufficient domestic production, gas in storage, imports, then we will manage without significant restrictions to consumers," Makogon said. At the same time, he noted that the presence of gas in transit guarantees the integrity of main gas pipelines. If Russia stops transit to the EU through Ukraine, there is a risk that the aggressor will partially destroy the Ukrainian gas transport infrastructure.
Ukraine might not be able to store 19 billion cubic metres in reserve before winter. Ukraine’s Naftogaz is unlikely to be able to fulfil the task given by the Cabinet of Ministers to accumulate 19 billion cubic metres of gas in underground storage by winter, said CEO of Naftogaz Yuriy Vitrenko for NV.ua. Currently, the company has pumped 12.3 billion cubic metres into storage facilities. By the beginning of the heating season, a part of the missing gas will be able to be provided by internal production. This will amount to approximately 1 billion cubic metres per month. But another 4.5 billion cubic metres need to be imported. According to Vitrenko, the biggest problems contributing to the gas storage shortage is the high gas price and lack of money required to finance such imports. He added that there are also technological restrictions on how much gas can be imported per day and how much can be pumped.
Naftogaz talks about the risks of the upcoming heating season. This year's heating season in Ukraine will start later than traditionally and end earlier. As the CEO of Naftogaz, Yuriy Vitrenko, predicted in an interview with The Guardian, the air temperature in apartments will be three to four degrees
67 UKRAINE Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com