Russia's OAO Lukoil Holdings (LKOH.RS) and a consortium led
by Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) have submitted bids for an oil-and-gas field on Ukraine's Black Sea
shelf, Interfax reported Friday.
Ukraine is seeking to
develop oil and gas deposits to decrease its dependence on Russia for
energy supplies. There were no bids on a second field.
Exxon Mobil is bidding together with U.K.
major Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB), Romania's OMV Petrom SA (SNP.RO)
and Ukrainian state firm Nadra Ukrainy, the report said. Lukoil Overseas, a
unit of Lukoil Holdings, submitted the other bid.
Interfax quoted Ukraine's
Environment and Natural Resources Minister Eduard Savitsky as saying that a
governmental commission will decide whether the bids meet tender conditions in
the next five days, and the winner will be selected in 30 days. The field is
expected to produce 3 billion-4 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.