Ukraine Aims for 21 BCM of Gas by 2015

Ukraine will aim to produce 21 billion cubic metres of gas a year between 2013 and 2015, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has said. 

At a meeting of government yesterday, Minister Azarov revealed the ambitious production estimates for gas, with gas condensate and oil to also increase to 3 billion tonnes. This will represent an increase of 17 per cent for gas and an increase of 8 per cent for condensate and oil, compared to production rates for 2011.

The announcement was made as part of a plan to diversify Ukraine's energy sources as well as ensuring security of supply. As part of this plan, Ukraine will also concentrate on LNG, with a terminal planned for Ukraine, nuclear power and renewable energy, including hydro-electric power.

The country's efforts in the gas sphere will see an acceleration of shale gas exploration, the PM said, as well as increased exploration and drilling in the Black and Azov Seas. Ukraine will also seek to cut down on its import of natural gas with coal to take the place the imported resource.

The exploration of gas derived from coal (coal-bed/coal-seam methane) will also be a focus of the production efforts, Minister Azarov said.

"An effective alternative to traditional natural gas can be the use of gas (methane) of coal deposits."

According to a statement on the Ukrainian government pages, through commercial development of coal deposits, between three and five billion cubic metres of gas could be produced from coal deposits in the next three to five years.