REUTERS
Ukrgazvydobuvannya is unable to significantly boost gas production without increasing the resource base, the company's CEO said.
Ukraine's largest state-owned gas producer Ukrgazvydobuvannya has lowered its forecast for gas production in 2018 by 1 billion cubic meters (bcm), from 16.5 bcm to 15.5 bcm, due to the lack of new licenses for subsoil development.
"Initially we planned to produce 16.5 bcm of gas this year. Unfortunately, the target won't be reached. Therefore, we are talking about 15.5 bcm," Ukrgazvydobuvannya CEO Oleh Prokhorenko said at a conference on November 6.
The official added that when developing a program to increase gas output by 20 bcm before 2020, the company expected to receive 60 licenses for the use of new fields in 2016-2018, while it actually obtained under 20 licenses.
Read alsoUkraine's gas output grows by over 0.9% to 17.3 bcm in Jan-Oct
According to the CEO, Ukrgazvydobuvannya is unable to significantly boost gas production without increasing its resource base, as the company's deposits have already been depleted by over 70%.
UNIAN memo. Ukrgazvydobuvannya is Ukraine's largest gas producer, holding a 70% share in the total volume of the country's hydrocarbon production. The company includes four gas industry departments: Shebelynkagazvydobuvannya, Poltavagazvydobuvannya, Kharkivgazvydobuvannya, and Lvivgazvydobuvannya.
It is wholly owned by national oil and gas holding Naftogaz of Ukraine.
The state-owned Ukrgazvydobuvannya in 2017 boosted natural gas output by 4.8% to 15.25 bcm.
The concept of Ukraine's gas industry development until 2020 envisages an increase in the production of all companies to 27.6 bcm of gas per year as of 2020. In particular, the state-run Ukrgazvydobuvannya is expected to produce 20.1 bcm of gas annually.