U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has said he intends to actively cooperate with the Ukrainian authorities on the road to strengthening Ukraine's energy independence.
“To begin with, I’m very determined to cooperate with the Ukrainian government in strengthening Ukraine’s energy independence. There are several areas on the road to this goal,” he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
He also mentioned joint energy efficiency projects as part of USAID, work on the rationalization of the Ukrainian market, including through the re-importing of natural gas from Europe, renewable energy, cooperation in the diversification of sources of supply of nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants, as well as the organization of shale gas production.
Pyatt said that shale gas extraction is the most revolutionary area for Ukraine.
“In this area the issue concerns cooperation with two large companies Chevron and Exxon Mobil Corporation. These companies are ready to bring to Ukraine the latest technologies for protecting the environment,” the diplomat said.
He said that the two private companies were negotiating directly with the Ukrainian government and that it was in Ukraine’s interests to act quickly.
“It’s obvious for me that the world’s energy markets are rapidly changing. Therefore, it’s in Ukraine’s interests to sign this agreement as soon as possible,” the U.S. ambassador said.
He said that there are more than 1.2 million wells for the extraction of shale gas in the United States and that the level of groundwater pollution is zero.
“This industry has created more than 700,000 new jobs in the United States, and the gas price amounted to only a third of the price in Europe. Our Department of Energy has started working on the issuing of licenses for the export of domestic gas from the United States to world markets. In fact, we’re reaping the benefits of the acquired energy independence. And we hope that Ukraine will also manage to achieve the same as we did,” Pyatt said.
