“The shale gas revolution will boost the energy independence and national security of both the United States and Ukraine. Indeed, it is US companies that have been encouraged to sign PSAs with the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian partners. The International Energy Agency estimates there to be 1.2 trillion cu.m of shale gas in Ukraine in the Donetsk-Prydniprovskyy and Lyublinskyy basins, or the third largest deposit of shale gas in Europe,” says Taras Kuzio, head of the Ukraine Policy Forum at the Center for Transatlantic Relations
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In his article for the Global Post Taras Kuzio mentions that “Shale gas extraction from the Yuzivska and Oleska basins is due to begin in 2017. Estimated production from these basins would be in the region of 15 to 50 bn cu.m of shale gas each year which would dramatically reduce the need to import 30 bn. cu m of Russian gas each year.
Within a decade Ukraine could return to a time prior to the early 1970s when its demand for energy was satisfied by domestic production. The rapid expansion of shale gas production, coupled with expansion of domestic gas with the assistance of Canadian-US companies such as Cub Energy, and energy conservation will contribute towards removing Russia’s energy noose around Ukraine’s neck. Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov has complained that Russia is "strangling" Ukraine with high gas prices.”
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