Industrial production of shale gas in Ukraine should start in 2018-2019
Kyiv, February 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Industrial production of shale gas at the Yuzovska (Kharkiv and Donetsk regions) and Oleske (Lviv and Ivano-Frankovsk regions) sections in Ukraine should start six to seven years after the signing of a production sharing agreement (PSA) with the winners of the tenders for these fields, according to Volodymyr Ihnaschenko, the secretary of the Ukrainian interagency commission for organizing the singing and implementation of PSAs.
"With the successful implementation of shale gas projects…trial development should be underway at the end of the fourth or the start of the fifth year. We expect industrial production of gas to start sometime around the sixth and seventh year," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.
Eduard Stavytsky, the chairman of the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine, in turn said that forecast resources at the Oleske section comes to around 2.5 trillion cubic meters (tcm) and the Yuzovska section between 4 and 10 tcm of gas.
"Peak production, according to the estimates of our geologists, for the Yuzovska section might be 10 bcm a year and for the Oleske section - 2.5-3 bcm of gas a year," Stavytsky said.
As was earlier reported, Ukraine announced tenders to sign PSAs involving the Yuzovska and Oleske areas.
Applications for the tenders called by the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine will be accepted until 6:00 pm, April 23, 2012.
Stavytsky earlier said that Shell had designed projects for extraction on the Yuzovska field, and if the company wins the tender, it is ready to invest several billion dollars in the development of the field in the next three years.
Stavytsky also said that foreign investors, particularly Chevron, are interested in the Oleske field. He said the local authorities had held up the tender for this field.