• Українська
  • Русский
  • English
Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

DONETS-DNIPRO AVENUE FOR CASPIAN OIL Will Ukraine sell itself at a profit?

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

First Vice Premier Anatoly Holubchenko received Mr. Marvin Wright, British Petroleum project coordinator on June 17.

The subject of their talks is outwardly quite understandable: BP, which has for quite some time studied Ukrainian prospecting documentation on the Donets-Dnipro depression, arrived at the conclusion that it can get hold of its oil and gas deposits considerably quicker than Ukrainian companies, and that, in its opinion, Ukraine will only benefit from this.

Mastering this depression calls for staggering capital investment, something Ukraine cannot afford, of course. Ihor Bakai, President of the Naftohaz (Oil & Gas) National Joint Stock Company told The Day that if BP annually invests $5 billion in Ukraine’s hydrocarbon extraction, the government should seriously consider the possibility.

But perhaps the British are asking too much? Mr. Baklai asked BP officials if they possessed a license covering an area more than five square miles anywhere in the world? Why should Ukraine let them use almost one-third of its territory on an exclusive basis?

Well, there is a weighty answer to that one. Valery Shuliko, Deputy Chairman of the State Oil and Gas Committee, noted recently that BP’s enthusiasm could well be used to attract investments in the construction of the Odesa oil terminal, thus “recruiting” the British company, with its heavyweight interest in Caspian oil, to back the Ukrainian oil route.

The best the Ukrainian government can do under the circumstances is to sell Ukraine at a profit.

Photo by Volodymyr Ibadov:

Will the oil flow in our direction?

 

Rubric: