Ukraine says Eni shows interest in exploring Black Sea gas fields
KIEV, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Italian oil and gas group Eni (Milan: ENI.MI - news) has expressed interest in exploring gas deposits on the Black Sea shelf, Ukrainian Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky said on Friday.
Stavytsky told the Ukrainian parliament that the Italian group might explore shallow shelf areas, but gave no more details. "We have a request from Italian companies and especially from Eni (NYSE: E - news) ," he said.
Earlier this year Stavytsky told Reuters Ukraine could in future tap at least 5 billion cubic meters of gas from shallow shelf areas in the Black Sea.
Talks are still going on with a consortium led by ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell (Xetra: A0ET6Q - news) on a deal to develop the Skifska field in deeper areas of the Black Sea shelf.