Royal Dutch Shell Looking To Develop Ukrainian Shale Gas

The head of Ukraine's presidential administration, Serhiy Lyovochkin, has said the Dutch-British company Royal Dutch Shell could invest some $600 million in developing shale-gas deposits in Ukraine.

Lyovochkin said on August 31 that "this is a significant investment from one of biggest players in the world market."

According to Lyovochkin, an agreement should be signed between Royal Dutch Shell and Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz on September 1.

The Lublin Basin in Poland has a confirmed 1.4 trillion cubic meters of shale gas but the area on the other side of the border in Ukraine has not been properly explored yet.

Some believe Ukraine's shale-gas reserves come to as much as 2 trillion cubic meters. Royal Dutch Shell is looking at spending up to $200 million on exploration of shale-gas sites in Ukraine.

with agency reports