By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Dec. 2 -- Ukraine's national oil company Naftogaz Ukrainy and Shell Exploration & Production Co. signed a cooperation agreement covering deep exploration in the Dniepr-Donets basin.
Shell will earn a 50% interest in 10 Naftogaz Ukrainy licenses, excluding existing production, by acquiring seismic data and drilling deep exploratory wells over 3 years. Shell expects its total initial investment in the work, starting next year, to be $100 million.
In May, the two companies agreed to jointly study a 31,000 sq km area of the basin in central-eastern Ukraine. Parts of the area have gas production from shallower reservoirs not covered in the new agreement.
