Ukraine’s natural gas consumption is expected to fall below 20 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year from about 27 billion in 2021 before the full-scale war with Russia began, the CEO of the country’s biggest oil and gas company Naftogaz said on Friday.
Oleksiy Chernyshov told Reuters he expected Ukrainian gas reserves to exceed 16 bcm at the start of the current heating season, enough to get the country through the upcoming winter. The heating season typically starts in mid- to late-October.
«Overall Ukraine’s gas consumption, annual, is below 20 billion cubic meters, it is between 18 to 19 bcm,» Chernyshov said in an interview.
Chernyshov showed slides to Reuters detailing how gas consumption was distributed. Residents and municipalities accounted for about 11 bcm, while industry needed about 4 bcm and the rest went to the energy sector.
Ukraine consumed about 27 bcm of gas in 2021, making it one of Europe’s biggest users of the fuel before the war. But its economy shrank by about a third last year as industries reduced or halted production due to security risks, disrupted exports and broken supply chains.
Chernyshov saw some early signs of the economy rebounding.
Economy ministry data showed that Ukraine’s gross domestic product grew by 2.2% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2023.
Chernyshov stressed that Ukraine would not import gas this year and said Naftogaz had no intention of initiating a new gas transit contract with Russia after the current one expires at the end of 2024, echoing earlier comments by Ukrainian officials.