Ukraine gas reserves are at lowest level in 11 years, analyst ExPro says

KYIV (Reuters) -Gas volumes in Ukrainian storage facilities are at the lowest level in at least 11 years, standing at 6 billion cubic metres (bcm) as of May 11, analytical company ExPro said on Wednesday.

Ukraine has been forced to ramp up gas withdrawals from storage and increase imports this winter and spring after Russian missile attacks damaged production facilities in the east of the country.

ExPro noted that storage facilities, whose capacity exceed 30 bcm, were less than 20% full, compared to 31.7% at the same date in 2024, when they held 8.8 bcm of gas.

It said that since the beginning of the current injection season in mid-April, 610 million cubic meters of gas had been pumped into storage facilities, including 258 million in April.

"Injection volumes in May 2025 are higher than in May last year. Overall, more than 350 million cubic metres of natural gas have been injected into storage facilities since the beginning of the month, 33% more than in the same period last year," ExPro said.

The company forecast that Ukraine could have about 6.6 bcm of gas in reserve by the end of May.

The former head of the Ukrainian gas transit operator, Serhiy Makogon, said last month that the country needed to import up to 6.3 billion cubic metres of gas for the 2025/26 winter season as reserves have fallen to a record low due to war-related damage to some facilities.

He said Ukraine would need up to $3 billion for gas purchases.

Ukraine's state oil and gas firm Naftogaz has said it was in talks with the government and international financial institutions to raise 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to purchase over 2 bcm of gas for the 2025/26 heating season.

Naftogaz has said it also contracted 300 mcm of American LNG with deliveries from Poland's Orlen.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Joe Bavier)