by Andrea Shalal and Pavel Polityuk
KYIV, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s state-owned utility Naftogaz is working hard to increase its natural gas production to supply European countries for the 2023 heating season, its chief executive Yuri Vitrenko told Reuters.
Ukraine could fill in if the necessary investments and know-how are guaranteed to it by the West, he underlines.
“We are working on new projects that can really increase production in Ukraine significantly – by 10-30%,” he said.
Industry experts are skeptical of the plans, as the country’s reserves are largely depleted and it has struggled to ramp up production for years.
Naftogaz is working on converting power plants to gas, with wood and other biomass materials as alternatives, which would strengthen Ukraine’s resilience.
Such large-scale conversion seems unrealistic, according to analyst Maksim Beliavsky, as it would require huge amounts of plant material to produce the required energy and significant investment.
Naftogaz is also interested in horizontal drilling techniques and shale extraction, added its managing director.
The company has already signed contracts with Halliburton, Honeywell International and other American companies to carry out seismic surveys and reservoir design.
The Donbass, at the heart of Russian-Ukrainian hostilities since 2014, seems to be one of the most promising regions for shale, said Maksim Beliavsky, but Naftogaz also evokes the west of the country.
According to experts, Ukraine will have to import up to 3.5 billion cubic meters of gas for the 2022/23 heating season. (Report Andrea Shalal and Pavel Polityuk; French version Alizée Degorce, edited by Sophie Louet)