Ukrainian underground gas storage has allowed Europe to avoid an energy crisis.

European companies have accelerated the withdrawal of natural gas from Ukrainian storage facilities as the demand for heating increases during the winter.

As the FT writes, using Ukrainian storage reduces the likelihood that the continent will suffer from another energy crisis.

“Ukraine will play a key role in ensuring the security of gas supplies to Central and Eastern Europe this winter,” analysts assure.

Thus, using gas stored in Ukraine helps Europe keep gas prices low and its domestic reserves high, reducing the risk that storage facilities will be running low due to lingering winter chill.

Ukraine has become an alternative for gas storage intended for its neighboring countries, as storage facilities in the EU reach almost maximum capacity as early as mid-October. Most of the country’s storage facilities are deep underground in western Ukraine, far from the front line.

Kyiv has offered foreign customers up to 10 billion cubic meters, or a third of national capacity. This is in addition to 115 billion cubic meters of existing gas storage capacity in the EU.