March 23- Natural gas offtake from Ukraine's underground gas storage (UGS) facilities in March has averaged 5 million cubic meters per day owing to domestic production and imports, while the average daily amount of gas offtake from UGS facilities over the past three years has been 22 million cubic meters, Ukrainian media reported citing former Energy Minister Olga Buslavets.
"There is 9.5 million cubic meters of natural gas in Ukraine's UGS facilities now, which is 3.7 billion cubic meters more than last year," media quoted Buslavets as saying in a social media post.
Ukraine's gas consumption has currently dropped to 70 million - 75 million cubic meters per day due to warm weather, she said.
According to the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU), net gas imports into Ukraine from Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, plus small amounts imported from Moldova and Romania, averaged 24 million to 25 million cubic meters a day in March, taking into account re-exports and short-haul transit of 3 million to 5 million cubic meters of gas by non-residents.
At the same time, according to European platforms, Europe's reserves in UGS currently total 31 billion cubic meters, or 29% of their capacity, which is 30% below the five-year average and 17%, or 6.2 billion cubic meters, below last year's level.
