Some European energy companies are seeking to use Ukraine's vast underground natural gas storage capacity for storage of gas for the high-demand season, an official at the national energy company Naftogaz Ukrayiny said Tuesday.
Ukraine, a major transit country for Russian gas exports to Europe, controls some of the biggest natural gas storage capacity in Europe near its border with the European Union.
"We offer Europe an opportunity to use resources of Ukrainian underground storage facilities to store their own gas," Naftogaz deputy chairman Vadym Chuprun said at a press conference. "Some companies are interested in this."
Chuprun said Naftogaz is in talks with a German company on the issue, which had already offered its own terms, but he did not elaborate.
Ukraine is capable of holding up to 32 billion cubic meters of gas in its underground facilities, and the gas is usually used during the high demand season when gas consumption in Europe increases.
Ukraine had 20.4 billion cu m of gas stored in its underground facilities at the end of October 2011, when the high demand season began, and that level was reduced to 15 billion cu m at the end of January, according to Naftogaz.
Russia moves about 110 billion cu m/year of its gas to Europe via gas pipelines in Ukraine that accounts for up to 80% of its Europe-bound gas supplies. Russia accounts for a quarter of Europe's gas needs.
Ukraine hopes the control of underground gas storage facilities is an important asset that will help the country to remain a dominant gas transit force in Europe even as Russia is building several Europe-bound gas pipelines bypassing Ukraine.
