Ukraine plans to import 800 mcm of gas until April after Russian strikes

By Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine plans to import up to 800 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas from Europe in February and March to compensate for a sometimes 40% drop in production after Russian missile strikes on the sector, a senior industry source told Reuters on Friday.

Russia has focused many past missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's electricity sector since its 2022 invasion, but it has stepped up attacks on gas fields in recent weeks.

Ukrainian state gas firm Naftogaz and major private energy company DTEK have said Russia has attacked and damaged their facilities at least twice so far in February.

Before the strikes, Ukraine produced about 52 million cubic meters of gas a day while it consumed between 110 and 140 mcm a day in winter. It covered the gap from gas storage.

"We could do without imports this heating season, but the attacks on production are forcing us to import gas to compensate for this reduction in domestic production," said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive wartime matters.

The Ukrainian operator of the gas transmission systems says the country started increasing gas imports at the beginning of February and the volumes since then have increased almost 10-fold to more than 20 mcm a day.

The source and energy officials do not disclose the current level of gas production. Ukraine mainly uses gas to heat homes and for cooking.

Ukraine's main gas production facilities are vulnerable to Russian attacks as they are located in the frontline Kharkiv region and neighbouring Poltava.

The source said that Ukraine has low gas reserves in storage, but with planned imports and domestic gas production it will be able to see through the heating season - which usually starts in late October and ends in April - without imposing any restrictions on industry and households.

Energy experts had previously warned that storage reserves were close to a critically low 10% of the storage capacity of around 30 billion cubic meters.

The source said that Ukraine needs to start pumping gas for the 2025/26 winter season in spring and the country needs to accumulate about 13 bcm of gas. Ukraine had 12.9 bcm of gas in storage facilities at the start of the current season.

It is still unclear how much gas can be imported beyond March, as this will depend on the level of local production, which will be directly affected by the intensity of Russian missile attacks, the source noted.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)