From left, Chevron's General Manager for Europe Derek Magness, then-Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine Eduard Stavytsky and Viktor Ponomarenko, Chairman of the National Joint Stock Company "Nadra Of Ukraine" sign documents as Geoffrey Pyatt, US ambassador to Ukraine, and then-President Viktor Yanukovych (C) attend during a ceremony in Kyiv on Nov. 5 2013. Ukraine and US energy giant Chevron signed a $10-billion shale gas deal with much fanfare, but now the energy giant is cancelling the agreement, citing Ukraine's failure to make necessary tax changes. Chevron says it will stay in Ukraine and continue to search for business opportunities. © AFP
Ukraine Says Chevron Plans To Pull Out Of $10 Bln Shale Gas Deal -- Reuters
U.S. energy major Chevron plans to withdraw from a $10 billion shale gas deal with Kiev, a senior Ukrainian presidential official said on Monday.
Ukraine signed a shale gas production-sharing agreement with Chevron amid great fanfare in November 2013, just months before mass protests in Kiev ousted former president Viktor Yanukovich, plunging the country into a major crisis with Russia.
"There is information that they (Chevron) are planning this decision," Valeriy Chaliy told journalists, referring to a report by local media that Chevron had told the government it was pulling out of the deal.
Chaliy declined to give further details.
Read more ....
More News On Chevron Pulling Out Of Its $10 Bln Ukraine Shale Gas Deal
Chevron pulls out of gas extraction in western Ukraine -- Kyiv Post
Chevron signals exit from Ukrainian gas project -- Fast FT
Ukraine Says Chevron May Exit Agreement to Extract Shale Gas -- Bloomberg
Chevron notifies Ukraine about intention to quit shale gas project -- ITAR-TASS
Chevron's Quitting Shale Gas Project in Ukraine Unconfirmed -- Sputnik
My Comment: This pullout is a big blow. Aside from promising thousands of jobs, it was going to help Ukraine become self-sufficient in energy by breaking Gazpron's monopoly on gas supplies. Chevron is blaming Ukraine taxes for its pullout, but the number one reason is that the situation in Ukraine is rapidly becoming unstable. Corruption is still rampant, contacts are routinely being ignored and/or not respected, and the security situation is not suitable for a $10 billion dollar investment ... even if it was to be allocated to the "safe and secured" western part of the country ... unlike the eastern part that is now gripped by war.
On a side note .... Chevron has also announced that it will continue developing its projects with Russia .... Chevron Plans to Continue Scheduled Cooperation With Russia Amid Sanctions (Sputnik).
Hmmmm .... makes you wonder if there is a linkage?
2 comments:
More money to be made with Russia than the Ukrainian. That and greed nose a safe bet.
You remember the russian american flyover agreement? Where they get conduct a flight over each others country's? Well russia had its turn and from what a "friend" says- they flew pretty low over the chevron/phillips 66 facility in Pasadena Texas. I thought it was strange (I thought the flyover were limited to military concerns) until I read this article and your comments!
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