The investment committee of public joint-stock company Ukrnafta has frozen a drilling project on the Velykobubnivske field in Sumy region over the unsettled issue of extending the license for deposit use that would expire on December 24, 2019.

The press service of Ukrnafta reported that the project envisaged the completion of drilling of new wild-cat No. 119-G of 3,000 meters deep with average daily production rate of 23 tonnes.

Ukrnafta Executive Vice President for Corporate Strategy & Development Jonathan Popper said that the project's payback period is only three years.

As reported, since early 2017 Ukrnafta halted operations at six fields in Sumy and Lviv regions over the non-extension of licenses for the use of deposits. In 2017, nine licenses of Ukrnafta expire, in 2018 – 27 and 2019 – 22 licenses.

The State Agency for Geology and Deposits does not want to extend the licenses, as the company has a tax debt.