Natural gas exports from Ukrainian UGS in December reached a historical maximum - 768 mcm

In December 2023, about 768 mcm of natural gas were exported from the "customs warehouse" of Ukrainian UGS, according to ExPro calculations. This is the highest monthly export level in history. Compared to November, export volumes increased by 2.7 times, and compared to December last year, by 8.3 times.

The sharp increase in export volumes is due to the behavior of traders who injected natural gas into Ukrainian storage facilities in the previous months. In December, companies actively re-exported this gas back to Europe. Both Ukrainian and foreign companies were present among the exporting companies.

Most of the gas in December was exported to Poland - 386 mcm. Also, 235 mcm were exported to Slovakia, almost 146 mcm to Moldova, and 1.2 mcm to Hungary.

In general, in 2023, about 1.28 bcm of natural gas were exported from Ukrainian storage facilities, most of it in the last months of the year. Compared to last year, export volumes increased by 2.6 times.

As of the end of the year, almost 2.29 bcm of natural gas were stored in the "customs warehouse" of Ukrainian UGS, according to ExPro calculations. Foreign companies store about 1.5 bcm in the "customs warehouse".

Read more about the export structure and which companies exported natural gas from Ukrainian storages in ExPro's analytical publications on natural gas.