Due to the shutdown of the Sakhalin field, Ukraine has lost 600 million cubic metres of gas from the projected balance. This was stated by Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov in an interview with LB.ua.
"The licences are not working now, the field is shut down. This is a treacherous situation. We have lost 600 million cubic metres of gas from the projected balance," Chernyshov said.
And it will take time to resume production at this field, if a decision is made.
"Ukrnaftoburinnya is in coordination with Ukrnafta, so they will start immediately. This requires investment. When we calculated the balance sheet, we hoped that this would happen in the second half of the year. Now we have postponed these plans to the fourth quarter. Of course, this will be a smaller volume of gas production, because it is impossible to restore the same volume immediately, and this must also be understood," said the head of Naftogaz.
Why the Sakhalin field is not working
- The Sakhalin oil and gas condensate field is one of the largest in Ukraine (located in Kharkiv Region).
- In December last year, Ukrnaftoburinnya completely stopped production of natural gas and gas condensate at the Sakhalin field due to a legal battle with the State Service of Geology and Subsoil that has been going on for almost 15 years. The court cancelled Ukrnaftoburinnya's special permit for subsoil use.
- The Asset Recovery and Management Agency initiated amendments to the Subsoil Code of Ukraine to allow gas production at the Sakhalin field without a special permit during the martial law period to launch gas production.