Ukraine and fracking

Ukraine has an estimated 42 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of technically recoverable shale gas reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), ranking its deposits as the fourth largest in Europe behind Poland (187 tcf), France (180 tcf), and Norway (83 tcf). The EIA believes the most promising shale reserves appear to be in the Lublin Basin, which extends from Western Ukraine into Poland, and the Dnieper-Donets Basin in the East (which borders Russia). However, the full extent of these reserves has yet to be proved.

Drilling began by Polish company Kulczyk Oil Ventures in a license area it acquired in June 2010.

In January 2013, Royal Dutch Shell signed a $10 billion (€7.45 billion) deal for shale exploration and extraction at the Yuzivska field in the east of the ex-Soviet republic. Chevron wants to explore the Olesska shale field in western Ukraine, another $10 billion deal that was finalized in November 2013. Officials are also gearing up to finalize a deal with Italy's Eni SpA and France's EDF SA for developing offshore oil and gas in the Black Sea.

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