Ukraine's private gas production companies, following the results of October 2026, concluded deals for the export sale of natural gas with a total value of €45.59 million excluding VAT. These are the first final results after the partial resumption of Ukrainian gas exports, which had been banned since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.

This was reported by the consulting company ExPro, which analyzed the results of specialized auctions at the Ukrainian Energy Exchange (UEE).

In total, in October, 29 private gas production companies sold 54.5 million cubic meters of natural gas for export. The weighted average sales price was €78.63 per MWh excluding VAT. Depending on the terms of individual deals, prices ranged from €69 to €90.01 per MWh.

The largest seller was the ESCO-Pivnich group, whose companies sold 16.1 million cubic meters of gas for €13.83 million. This group accounted for 29.5% of the total October export sales volume.

DTEK group ranked second, selling 12.75 million cubic meters of gas for €9.36 million. Four companies of the group took part in the first export auctions on October 15, selling the offered volume at prices of €69-69.03 per MWh.

Together, ESCO-Pivnich and DTEK accounted for almost 53% of all Ukrainian gas export sales in October.

The top five largest sellers also included:

  • Zakhidnadrasevice group - 7.51 million cubic meters for €6.72 million;
  • Nadra-Geoinvest group - 6.69 million cubic meters for €5.56 million;
  • Ukrnaftoburinnia - 5.22 million cubic meters for €4.6 million.

Overall, the top five largest company groups accounted for 88.6% of gas sold for export.

Export prices more than double domestic prices

According to ExPro calculations, the weighted average price of Ukrainian gas in export auctions was €78.63 per MWh. This is 2.1 times higher than domestic quotes for the November resource, which were near €37.47 per MWh.

Thus, the difference between export and domestic prices amounted to €41.16 per MWh.

At the same time, Ukrainian gas was sold cheaper than the European exchange benchmark. The price at the Dutch TTF hub for contracts with delivery the following month was €91.50 per MWh - 14.1% more than the average export price of Ukrainian resource.

The higher sale price abroad creates additional opportunities for Ukrainian producers, in particular for financing production, restoring damaged facilities, and investing in production infrastructure.

At the same time, the difference between domestic and export quotes is not an indicator of companies' net profit, since it does not account for extraction, transportation, and contract fulfillment costs.

Among buyers of Ukrainian gas - Moldova

Only foreign companies were allowed to take part in specialized export auctions. One of the buyers was the state-owned Moldovan company Energocom, which purchased 2 million cubic meters of Ukrainian natural gas.

According to ExPro, the Moldovan buyer obtained the resource about €10 per MWh cheaper than the spot price on the European gas market.

Export of Ukrainian gas remains limited

The partial resumption of exports became possible after a decision by the Cabinet of Ministers of October 7, 2026. Previously, sale of domestically produced natural gas abroad had been banned since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.

Under the new mechanism, private gas production companies may monthly sell for export no more than 15% of the volume of gas delivered by them to the gas transmission system of Ukraine during the previous month.

This procedure applies from March 1 through November 30. The list of permitted sellers and individual limits are approved by the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine.

At the same time, sale of gas at export auctions does not mean that all contracted volume has already physically crossed the border. Under the terms of the mechanism, delivery may be carried out during the month of contract conclusion and the following two months. Thus, gas sold in October may be delivered to buyers until the end of December.

Among the reasons for partially opening exports, market participants cited a decline in industrial gas consumption in Ukraine and the presence of surplus volumes in the commercial segment.

According to ExPro's forecast, the next round of export auctions may take place in the second half of November. At those, private producers could potentially offer another approximately 55 million cubic meters of natural gas.

Based on materials from: ExPro, Ukrainian Energy Exchange