The search for gas in the Black Sea and the possibility of drilling the first wells in the shelf of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine may begin no earlier than 2026, said Mavrykiy Kalugin, a member of the Naftogaz board, on the sidelines of the Ukrainian Gas Investment Congress in Kiev, writes LIGA. net.

" To drill offshore, you need to involve a company that knows how to drill at depth, "

At the same time, according to the top manager, five years is still an optimistic scenario, since one well will cost $ 4-6 billion.. and the company will not be able to implement such a project on its own. He also added that drilling one well at sea is more labor-intensive than onshore, and besides the construction of all the necessary infrastructure, it will take six months..

Kalugin noted that, according to Naftogaz's estimates, over the next 10 years, the state-owned company needs to invest $ 20 billion in production to implement the "

[see_also].

Naftogaz intends to increase gas production to 24 billion cubic meters per year in 10 years - Vitrenko.

[/ see_also].

In November 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers, without an auction, handed over to NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine permission to develop oil and gas fields on the Ukrainian shelf of the Black Sea for 30 years.

Later, the former executive director of Naftogaz, Otto Waterlander, said that the company could start drilling wells in the Black Sea in late 2022-early 2023..