Gas offtake from Ukraine's UGS facilities averages 5 mln cubic meters a day in March - ex-energy minister

MOSCOW. March 23 (Interfax) - Natural gas offtake from Ukraine's underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in March has averaged 5 million cubic meters per day owing to domestic production and imports, while the average daily amount of gas offtake from UGS facilities over the past three years has been 22 million cubic meters, Ukrainian media reported citing former Energy Minister Olga Buslavets.

"There is 9.5 million cubic meters of natural gas in Ukraine's UGS facilities now, which is 3.7 billion cubic meters more than last year," media quoted Buslavets as saying in a social media post.

Ukraine's gas consumption has currently dropped to 70 million - 75 million cubic meters per day due to warm weather, she said.

According to the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU), net gas imports into Ukraine from Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, plus small amounts imported from Moldova and Romania, averaged 24 million to 25 million cubic meters a day in March, taking into account re-exports and short-haul transit of 3 million to 5 million cubic meters of gas by non-residents.

At the same time, according to European platforms, Europe's reserves in UGS currently total 31 billion cubic meters, or 29% of their capacity, which is 30% below the five-year average and 17%, or 6.2 billion cubic meters, below last year's level.

Buslavets said in her post that Iran's blocking of the Strait of Hormuz has reduced global monthly LNG supply by 9 billion cubic meters. Iran's latest attacks on QatarEnergy infrastructure have damaged 17% of its LNG facilities capable of producing 17.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year, which might take up to 1.5 years to restore.

With 85% of Qatar's gas supply going to Asia, some Asian countries have already limited consumption or partially switched to coal amid growing competition between Europe and Asia for spot LNG volumes.

According to the Dutch gas hub TTF, spot prices for natural gas have varied between 51 euros and 63 euros per MWh over the past week, depending on news about potential end dates of the Iran war and the unblocking of the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for 20% of global LNG and oil shipments.

According to estimates by the ICIS agency as of March 20, the Ukrainian Average Transfer Price Month-Ahead index (UAVTP MA) in March for April was UAH 22,700 per 1,000 cubic meters excluding VAT, or 42.3 euros per MWh, which is roughly 18% lower than the TTF MA price.