Russia strikes natural gas deposit in western Ukraine. There may also be European gas
Russia struck an underground gas storage facility in western Ukraine in Sunday's missile and drone attack, underscoring the threats to the country's energy system posed by the war. The news is reported by Bloomberg .
The barrage damaged equipment on the ground, Oleksiy Chernyshov, CEO of state company Naftogaz Ukrainy, said on Facebook. The underground storage itself was not damaged, as it is located significantly below the earth's surface, but the gas storage and withdrawal mechanisms may be damaged.
Kremlin forces have aimed missiles and drones at Ukraine's gas and electricity facilities, the Russian Defense Ministry said in an operational update posted on Telegram. It was the second targeted attack on Ukraine's energy systems in three days, following a massive barrage on Friday.
Gas storage places in Ukraine
Russian attacks have caused around $100 million in damage to Ukraine's power grid over the past three days, the CEO of national operator Ukrenergo, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, said on Facebook.
Sunday's attacks did not disrupt gas supplies to domestic customers, and Ukraine continues to comply with all obligations and fulfill storage capacity reservations from foreign customers, Chernyshov said. because, let's remember, with great disregard for the danger, several European companies had chosen to store natural gas in Ukrainian deposits, after having exhausted the national space, despite the ongoing war situation in the country.
Nearly 80% of Ukraine's underground storage capacity is located in the west, hundreds of kilometers from the front line and in areas that have suffered relatively little airstrike during Russia's invasion, now in its third year.
Ukraine has attracted customers with the possibility of storing and trading gas for three years without paying taxes and customs duties. Foreign traders pumped 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas into Ukrainian storage sites last year. Obviously now it turns out that the choice had some negative sides, such as seeing the depots bombed.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian energy facilities, some far from the two nations' border. His forces have attacked more than a dozen refineries inside Russia with explosives-laden drones this month, pushing the country's daily oil refining rate to fall to its lowest weekly level in ten months. It is estimated that Russia has lost refining capacity for 600 thousand tons of crude oil.
Senior Ukrainian officials on Friday defended Kyiv's attacks on oil infrastructure, after a report said U.S. officials had warned against the operations due to rising oil prices and the prospect of Kremlin retaliation.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new Economic Scenarios articles.
Article Russia strikes natural gas deposit in western Ukraine. There may also be European gas coming from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-russia-colpisce-deposito-di-gas-naturale-nellucraina-occidentale-vi-puo-essere-anche-gas-europeo/ on Sun, 24 Mar 2024 19:40:33 +0000.