Ukraine's storage facilities could play a key role in distributing American gas across Europe

Ukraine could become an important hub for the European distribution of American liquefied natural gas, writes Stephen Blank, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, in an analysis published on the website of the Atlantic Council. According to the author, the country's underground gas storage capacity of more than 30 billion cubic meters could serve both for seasonal stockpiling of American shipments and for their onward transmission to Central and Eastern Europe.

Naftogaz organizes its imports of American LNG through four entry points in Europe: the terminals of Świnoujście in Poland, Klaipėda in Lithuania, Mukran in Germany and Revithoussa in Greece. The liquefied gas arriving by sea is converted back into gaseous form at these facilities and then transported to Ukraine by pipeline. In 2025 the country contracted for the equivalent of about 456 million cubic meters of American LNG, and in the first quarter of 2026 it had already secured 381 million cubic meters. According to Blank, connecting the storage facilities — located mostly in western Ukraine — to the regional network could strengthen energy cooperation within the Three Seas Initiative and help reduce dependence on Russian gas. However, this would require additional interconnections, investment, management of security risks and sustained American institutional support. The analysis outlines a possible future role, the realization of which depends on these conditions being met.

Ugar