Ukraine Reassures Eni and EDF

Ukraine reiterated its intention to allow oil and gas projects by Italy’s Eni and France’s EDF, after disclosing on Wednesday a $10 billion shale gas production-sharing agreement with US energy major Chevron. 

“Ukraine is a country that has big and ambitious plans for increasing output of oil and natural gas to improve its energy independence,” President Viktor Yanukovych said ten days after the government approved a draft agreement with a consortium led by Eni and EDF for offshore fields in the Black Sea. 

Ukraine signed a shale gas agreement with Royal Dutch Shell earlier this year and it is moving closer to another with Chevron.

"The government has approved the draft agreement which will be signed within the framework of the investment forum on Nov. 5 in Kiev," Ecology Minister Oleh Proskuryakov commented on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Eduard Stavytsky and CEO of Electricite de France Henri Proglio had signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the gas and electricity sectors. 

Ukraine's government is keen to produce locally to ease dependence on Russia. Ukraine also continues to make ambitious plans to decrease national energy consumption, switch its power stations from natural gas to coal, build an LNG terminal, and open reverse flows of gas from Europe