Ukraine will sign agreement on Skifska field development in November - Stavytsky

Ukraine plans to sign an agreement on hydrocarbons sharing in gas extraction on the Skifska field in the Black Sea in November.

Energy and Coal Industry Minister Eduard Stavytsky told a briefing Tuesday in Kyiv, a Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“As concerns development of the Skifska field, we expect for the ceremonial signing of the hydrocarbons sharing agreement this month,” Stavytsky said.

According to the Minister, the agreement will be signed with the consortium, which includes: state NJSC Nadra Ukrayny, Shell, the daughter structure OMV Petrom and Exxon Mobil, which will be the project operator.

To remind, until the end of this year, the consortium should sign with Ukrainian authorities the hydrocarbons sharing agreement for the term of 50 years, following that within 10 days it should transfer a special payment of USD 325 million to the country's budget.

The Skifska field of 16,700 square meters is located on the Black Sea shelf. The forecasted resources of the field make up 35 billion cu m of gas and 25-26 tonnes of oil.