Ukraine will sign a deal with Chevron Corp. (CVX) on Nov. 5 to develop shale gas in western Ukraine, a government minister said Wednesday, as the country attempts to cut its reliance on Russian gas.
Ukraine
will
sign a deal with Chevron Corp. (CVX) on Nov. 5 to develop shale gas in western
Ukraine
, a
government minister said Wednesday, as the country attempts to cut its reliance
on Russian gas.
"The government has approved the draft agreement that will be signed at an
investment forum on Nov. 5," Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Oleg
Proskuriakov told reporters.
Under the deal approved by
Ukraine
's
government on Tuesday, Chevron will invest $350 million in exploration for
shale gas at the Olesska field in western
Ukraine
,
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Tuesday, Interfax news agency reported. The
investment could rise to $10 billion, and the field could produce as much as 10
billion cubic meters of gas per year, he said.
Chevron's top representative in
Kiev
confirmed the deal, but couldn't say when it would be signed.
"The government is going through its process and we're looking forward to
signing," said Peter Clark, Chevron's country manager for
Ukraine
.
Ukraine
signed a similar deal in January with Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA).
Ukraine
is trying
to find alternative sources of gas to reduce its dependence on
Russia
. The
government in
Kiev
says
the price it pays for Russian gas supplies is too high.
The announcement of the signing Wednesday came as
Ukraine
said
it hoped to solve the issue of a payment owed to Russian state gas company OAO
Gazprom (GAZP.RS) in the next two days.
On Tuesday, Gazprom demanded that
Ukraine
settle an overdue bill of $882 million for August supplies, raising fears of a
repeat of supply problems that disrupted winter deliveries to
Europe
twice
in recent years. Previous payment disputes led Gazprom to cut flows to
Ukraine
in
2006 and 2009, disrupting supplies to some European countries that receive
Russian natural gas via
Ukraine
.
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