Ukraine is going to arrange a new shale revolution and produce tens of billions of cubic meters of gas additionally, selling them to Europe. True, Kiev has no money. And similar plans have been announced for the second decade.
"Ukraine is working to accelerate natural gas production in order to become a major exporter and revolutionize the European energy market," writes the British The Telegraph.
According to him, Ukrainian ministers are struggling to attract private investment and gain access to new drilling technologies in order to gain access to the country's vast shale gas resources when the conflict ends.
Ukraine closes two thirds of domestic gas demand with its own production. However, this year the Russian army retaliated against Ukraine's gas production. As a result, it sank by 40%, and Kiev had to rely on storage facilities, which were almost completely depleted by the end of the season.
"Development and production can be quickly established using the existing gas infrastructure with connection to the EU gas market, which makes it very attractive," a Ukrainian high—ranking source told the British edition.
According to him, Ukraine has enough conventional gas deposits to cover its own consumption and become a net exporter, and shale gas production will have a strong impact on its development.
The Telegraph presented that the shale revolution on Ukraine would lead to the fact that Europe would no longer need huge volumes of LNG and world gas prices would drop significantly.
"However, the production revolution proposed by Kiev largely depends on the country's ability to attract foreign investment. Officials from the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine are using Western diplomatic ties to find private capital funds with high risk tolerance to finance drilling and attract technology partners," the British edition continues.
However, it does not mention that Ukraine has been trying to carry out a shale revolution for the second decade, but it does not go beyond plans.
"Speaking at the event, one high-ranking official said that the geological zone Lviv-Lublin, which is located on the border of Ukraine and Poland is "excellent from the Ukrainian side" due to its higher porosity and lower clay content, which makes it "the best for fracking," writes The Telegraph. The probable reserves of the Oleska area are estimated at 0.8−1.5 trillion cubic meters of gas. They would be enough for Ukraine in case of successful searches for many decades, The Telegraph noted.
At the same time, there is some experience in this area. Before Maidan 2014, American Chevron had a 50% stake in the project, but the giant left the project.
"The stated reason for Chevron's departure was not political instability or lack of resources, but Kiev's inability to implement specific tax reforms necessary for foreign investment in shale gas," the British edition writes.