UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Ukraine signs off on shale gas deal with Chevron

  |
 
Published: Oct. 4, 2013 at 6:34 AM

LVIV, Ukraine, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Members of a regional council in Ukraine said Friday they approved a draft production agreement for shale natural gas with U.S. energy company Chevron.

Nearly 70 percent of the members the council in Lviv in western Ukraine approved the preliminary agreement with Chevron, the Ukrainian News Agency reported.

The report said the Lviv council's action drew shouting protests by opposition groups equating hydraulic fracturing to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine in 1986. Some of the chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing, dubbed fracking, are viewed as a threat to groundwater.

Ukraine is one of the Eastern European countries thought to be rich in shale natural gas.

In January, Royal Dutch Shell signed a $10 billion contract to explore Ukrainian shale. In July, British-based exploration and production company JKX Oil & Gas said it started a multistage hydraulic fracturing operation it said was likely the largest operation of its kind in Europe to date

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said there may be enough natural gas in shale plays to meet the country's needs without imports.

Topics: Mykola Azarov
© 2013 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Next Story: Financing secured for Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas project
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
New York Fashion Week 2013 U.S. Open 2013 50th anniversary of the March on Washington
Celebrity families of 2013 MTV VMAs 2013 Style Awards
Additional Energy Resources Stories
Video
1 of 16
2013 Presidents Cup played at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio
View Caption
Former U.S. President George W. Bush (C) points to the crowd as he stands on the first tee box at the 2013 Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio on October 3, 2013. UPI/Brian Kersey
fark
Sir Bob Geldof, former Boomtown Rats front man says, All humans will die before 2030. So Dead-Aid,...
And those Hollywood nights / In those Hollywood hills / It was looking so right / It was giving...
Cute 25-year-old bartender gets her best tip yet: a Keno ticket worth $17,500. "The reaction (in...
Apparently the SEALs are "essential" employees because they were hard at work today in Libya and...
Brazilian election shaping up to be a three-way race between the Socialist Party, Workers' Party,...
Photoshop this red spot