Ukraine is going into winter with a gas surplus, despite war

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Despite attacks by Russia on its natural gas production fields, Ukraine has moved to a gas surplus and is angling to increase exports to Europe this winter, the CEO of the country’s top private energy company said.
Ukrainian energy companies spent much of the last few years scrambling for gas imports, including several LNG cargoes from the US. “Now the situation has dramatically changed,” DTEK’s Maxim Timchenko told journalists: The company will continue to shop for LNG imports, but aims to leverage Ukraine’s vast gas storage facilities far from the front line to make lucrative arbitrage trades with Europe. However, the country’s supply of coal, which is the main fuel for its thermal power plants, has been pushed to deficit by Russian attacks on mines and supply lines.
After roughly €300 million in reconstruction costs for Ukraine’s power grid over the past few years, and a renewed push to build anti-drone barriers around substations, Timchenko said, it could be hypothetically possible to pass the coming winter with no heat or power cuts. But as Russia builds out its arsenal of more powerful drones, he warned Ukrainians should brace for another season of darkness: “We learned a lot in the last winter. Unfortunately, as much as we are better prepared, Russians have more tools to destroy our preparations.”

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