LONDON, August 20 (RIA Novosti) – Oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell has suspended shale gas production in eastern Ukraine, the company’s representative told RIA Novosti Wednesday.
“Currently we are not conducting drilling in eastern Ukraine. The security situation is such that we are not able to carry out certain activities scheduled by the shale gas production agreement for reasons beyond our control,” the source said.
“Hence, we took a step specified in the contract to announce force majeure regarding certain obligations set in the agreement on gas production at the Yuzivka field,” the representative added.
The company’s representative also stressed that declaring force majeure does not imply giving up Shell’s gas production in Ukraine. “Shell’s interests in shale gas production in Ukraine remain the same, and we will continue to execute all kinds of operations that we can carry out safely,” the representative noted.
An agreement between Shell and Nadra Yuzivska on shale gas production at the Yuzivka field in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions was signed in January of 2013.
