KYIV, May 5 - Ukraine has restored natural gas production to 85% of its January 2025 levels by early May, following a sharp drop in February due to Russian attacks, former Energy Minister Olha Buslavets wrote on Facebook.

"Gas production fell to 60% of January levels in February due to Russian strikes, but by early May it had gradually recovered to 85%," she noted.

Despite the recovery, Buslavets reported a moderate gas shortage in the commercial segment, exacerbated by Ukrnafta's production being transferred to the Public Service Obligation (PSO) regime from April 1 through October 31, 2025.

She added that Ukraine's underground gas storage (UGS) facilities currently hold 5.7 billion cubic meters of gas including 4.1 bcm in long-term storage (some located in temporarily uncontrolled territories) and 0.6 bcm of active gas reclassified as buffer gas. This level is 34% lower than last year, accounting for 0.03 bcm of nonresident gas.

According to the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU), last week Ukraine's average daily net gas imports (excluding short-haul) totaled 12.5 million cubic meters sourced from Hungary and Poland.

Daily gas consumption in Ukraine fell below 30 million cubic meters last week due to warmer weather. According to the European Aggregated Gas Storage Inventory (AGSI) platform, this enables Ukraine to inject at least 25 million cubic meters per day into its UGS. (om/ez)