Ukraine: ExxonMobil Led Consortium Wins Skifska Bid

A Ukrainian government minister has confirmed that a consortium led by ExxonMobil has won out in the bidding process for the Skifska field in Ukraine.

The consortium, which also includes Shell, OMV Petrom and Nadra Ukrainy, has beaten competition from Russian oil and gas company LUKoil, which also had a bid in for the oil and gas field. Those two bids were the only bids received for the field, the Ukrainian government said earlier this month.

The Skifska field, located in the Black Sea, is estimated to have between 200 and 250 billion cubic metres of gas, Reuters reports Ukrainian Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Eduard Stavitsky as saying today.

Yesterday, the Financial Times reported before the official announcement that the consortium would be the winner and pointed to Exxon's and Petrom's experience in Romania as part of the reason for the consortium's interest in the project.

"Big finds are expected in the Skifska field, attractive in being massive in size as well as adjacent and geologically similar to where ExxonMobil and OMV Petrom are exploring off Romania's coast," the government official, who did not wish to be named, said.

Today, Minister Stavitsky confirmed the newspaper's reports, naming ExxonMobil as the operator.

"The government has supported a proposal ... to sign a production-sharing agreement naming a group of companies, led by ExxonMobil as operator," the Minister said.

Operations on the field are expected to cost around $10 billion, the Ukrainian government has said.