Ukraine, Chevron Seal $10Bln Shale Gas Deal
KIEV, November 5 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine signed a $10 billion shale gas deal Tuesday with US energy giant Chevron on Tuesday as part of Kiev’s ongoing efforts to diversify its energy supplies and reduce dependence on Russia.
Chevron signed the contract for exploration and production at the Olesska field in western Ukraine after a government meeting, Ukrainian Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky told reporters.
Production at Olesska could yield up to 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year and generate about $10 billion in investment, Ukrainian officials have estimated.
The Chevron tie-up is the latest in a series of mega-deals with international energy giants as Ukraine looks to tap its unconventional gas deposits and offshore fields, reducing the amount of gas it buys from Russia.
President Viktor Yanukovych said Tuesday that agreements like the Chevron deal will allow Ukraine to become fully energy independent by 2020.
In January, Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell signed a shale gas production sharing agreement for the Yuzivska field with Kiev, which officials also said would generate up to $10 billion of investment.
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131105/184529027/Ukraine-Chevron-Sign-10-Bln-Shale-Gas-Deal-.html
Chevron. 
Elsewhere :
Chevron suspends shale gas exploration plan in Romanian village after protest.
Energy company Chevron has been forced to suspend its plans to drill an exploration well for shale gas in the village of Pungesti in eastern Romania after the local community blocked the company's trucks from entering the area.
For four days last week many of the village's inhabitants, most of whom are elderly farmers, occupied the road leading into the fields earmarked for Chevron's construction site. Settling in for the long haul, they erected makeshift tents while those who had arrived by cart let their horses graze in the field.
The protests at Pungesti, a deeply religious area of Romania, have had the backing of Orthodox priests since the beginning and, as villagers kneeled in the road chanting prayers and demands, the protests promised to be peaceful.
The police and gendarmerie increased their presence and created an exclusion zone, for a while preventing any other protesters from entering the area. When the trucks tried to move in, events turned violent.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/21/chevron-shale-gas-exploration-omanian-pungesti
