Ukrtransgas, the government-owned company operating Ukraine’s gas transmission system, declared on Nov. 19 during Ukraine Energy Week that by mid-November Ukraine was extracting 59 million cubic meters of gas a day — up from the previous average of 57 million million cubic meters per day.
If that current volume is maintained until the end of the year, Ukraine will have extracted 20.8 billion cubic meters in 2018, which will be the highest amount in the last five years. In 2013, Ukraine extracted 21 billion cubic members of gas, with the amount dropping in the wake of Russia’s occupation of Crimea and the launch of its war in eastern Ukraine.
Pavlo Stanchak, vice president of Uktransgas, said during his speech that by 2020 Ukraine plans to extract 27 billion million cubic meters per year.
The current rise is primarily due to the activity of UkrGasVydobuvannya, the state-owned gas producer, which accounts for 74 percent of Ukraine’s gas extraction. Around 20 percent of the gas is produced by private companies, while the other 5 percent is produced by state-owned oil company UkrNafta.
The discussion was a part of the Ukraine Energy Week, which opened its doors on Nov. 19 at Olympic Stadium in Kyiv. The forum gathered both government officials and business representatives to talk about the energy industry. The event will end on Nov. 21.
Ukrtransgas and UkGasVydobuvannya are subsidiaries of state-owned monopolist Naftogaz. Naftogaz is currently involved in legal action against Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom. Its current claims against Gazprom exceed $12 billion, Andriy Kobolyev, the CEO of Naftagaz, said at the conference.
