Naftogaz’s chairman, Aleksey Chernyshov, is confident that the plan will be implemented by increasing domestic production to meet the country’s needs.
Ukraine plans to stop importing gas as early as 2023 and replace it with its own source. To do this, Naftogaz plans to increase production by 8% and private companies by 16%. This was stated by the head of Naftogaz, Alexei Chernyshov, in an interview with Bloomberg.
It was noted that the attempt to abandon gas imports would be the first in the country’s history since its return to independence in 1991. At the same time, as Aleksey Chernyshov noted, in recent months Naftogaz has imported less gas than planned. Thus, the company bought about half of the planned 2 billion cubic meters from the end of October 2022.
“Increasing domestic production is our strategic goal and we have to do it ourselves. It is not just a business issue, it’s a matter of Ukraine’s survival and independence,” Chernyshov said.
He also noted that a very hot winter affected Naftogaz’s plan to halt gas imports. At the same time, the head of the company does not exclude the possibility that another 2 billion cubic meters of gas will have to be purchased.
“But this is not our main plan. Ukraine should be confident,” said Aleksey Chernyshov.
What happens to natural gas production during war?
Despite hostilities, the situation with gas production in Ukraine did not become problematic. Thus, at the beginning of 2023, the Ukrgazvydobuvannya company, which is part of the Naftogaz group, announced that 12.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas (commercial) was produced by the end of 2022.
“In 2022, Ukrgazvydobuvannya maintained stable natural gas production, despite the destruction and occupation of part of its production facilities in the east of the country,” the report said.
The company also noted that production volumes decreased by only 3% compared to pre-war 2021.
At the same time, during the war against Ukraine, the Russian Federation not only attacked energy facilities, for example, on November 17, 2022, a Russian missile struck one of the gas production facilities of the Ukrgazvydobuvannya company. However, the damage there did not have a serious effect on the gas pumping rate.
We also recall that on February 7, 2023, Ukrainian companies that ordered gas transportation services began to import “blue fuel” from Europe through the territory of Moldova. Imported gas is pumped into underground gas tanks.
Source: Focus
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