"The level of natural gas reserves in Ukraine's UGS is 9.5 billion cubic meters, which is 3.7 billion cubic meters higher than last year," she noted.
Gas consumption has dropped to 70-75 million cubic meters per day due to warm weather.
Meanwhile, net gas imports to Ukraine (including re-exports and short-haul transit of 3-5 million cubic meters per day) are fluctuating in the range of 24-25 million cubic meters per day this month from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and in small volumes from Moldova and Romania, as of Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTS) data.
At the same time, European UGS reserves remain at 31 billion cubic meters with a fill level of 29%, which is 30% below the five-year average and 17% (or 6.2 billion cubic meters) lower than last year's level, according to European platforms.
Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is reducing the global supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 9 billion cubic meters per month, Buslavets noted in her post. Following Iran's recent attacks on QatarEnergy facilities, 17% of LNG capacity with a production of 17.5 billion cubic meters per year was damaged, which will take 1 to 1.5 years to restore.
Amid growing competition between Europe and Asia for spot LNG volumes (85% of Qatar's resources went to Asia), some Asian countries have already limited consumption or partially switched to coal.
Spot natural gas prices have fluctuated in the range of 51-63 euros per MWh over the past week, depending on news about the possible timeline for ending the war with Iran and unblocking the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of global LNG and oil flows pass, according to the Dutch TTF gas hub.
The average monthly gas price index in Ukraine for March to April stood at 22,700 UAH per thousand cubic meters excluding VAT, or 42.3 euros per MWh, as of March 20, according to ICIS (Independent Commodity Intelligence Services) agency estimates.