Russia's energy giant Gazprom and Ukraine's national oil and gas company Naftogaz will set up two joint ventures on gas exploration in Ukraine and on the Black Sea shelf.
"The sides agreed to establish two joint ventures - on extraction of natural gas from coal deposits in Ukraine and on the development of the Pallas Field in the Black Sea," Gazprom said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian government issued a license for the development of the Pallas gas field on the Black Sea shelf to Naftogaz in January, 2010. The license will expire in 30 years.
According to Ukrainian experts, the Pallas Field holds an estimated 490 million metric tons of oil and 75 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
Investment in the development of the field is estimated at $1 billion.
MOSCOW, December 1 (RIA Novosti)
