The gas field discovered by an expedition of the ship “Issledovatel” in the Black sea will not solve the problem of gas self-sufficiency of Ukraine, but is an outstanding event, said Mykhailo Gonchar. This deposit will become for Ukraine a good encouragement in the fight for energy independence, said the expert on energy issues, President of the Centre "Strategy XXI" Mykhailo Gonchar.
"Of course, it is not a gigantic reserve, which will solve the problem of gas self-sufficiency of Ukraine, but it's still an outstanding event. For last 10 years we have only discovered deposits with reserves of several billion cubic meters. But 35 billion m3 is already a serious option. This discovery was predictable. The Black sea shelf has been only explored by four percent. A few years ago an 80 billion m3 gas deposit was found in the Romanian part of the Black sea. And the last opening of the Ukrainian expedition only confirms version that the North-Western part of the sea is in general very promising for the development of gas fields," – said the source.
Meanwhile, in his opinion, there are no great reasons for relief, because Ukraine has no sufficient funds for natural gas extraction.
"In any case, it may run seven to ten years from getting exploration results to gas output. Even under favorable conditions. But we do have problems. Our drilling rigs (the so-called "Boyko's rigs") have been stolen and kept in the Crimea. We should buy new ones, but there are no money for them. The second option is to return the rigs but it also does not look realistic. Almost three years have past since occupation of the Crimea, but we see only sluggish, non-systematic attempts to raise the issue. And it is clear: even if we manage to win the case in a court, the process of returning of the rigs will not be quick. Probably, the most suitable option in the current environment would be to attract investors. But it is difficult to do that in circumstances of legal uncertainty," said Gonchar.
On December 13, the Acting Chairman of the State Service of Geology and Mineral resources of Ukraine Mykola Boyarkin said that the expedition of the research vessel "Issledovatel" discovered in the North-Western shelf of the Black sea (Odessa region) 35 billion m3 of gas reserves.
The only Ukrainian research vessel "Issledovatel" started an expedition on November 17. It searches for oil and gas, as well as seismically active areas.
