Ukraine is expected to sign a potential $10bn-plus natural gas exploration and production deal on Thursday with Royal Dutch Shell, marking the biggest investment to date in “unconventional” gas in Europe.
The production-sharing agreement, set to be signed in Davos in the
presence of President Viktor Yanukovich of Ukraine and Peter Voser,
Shell’s chief executive, could become by far the largest foray by
foreign investors into the former Soviet republic. It is a potentially
big step in reducing Ukraine’s reliance on costly imports from Gazprom in what is the Russian monopoly’s largest foreign customer.
