KIEV, March 19 (Reuters) - International energy major RoyalDutch Shell decided to break off talks overparticipation in the development of an offshore gas field inUkraine in January, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
"In January 2014, Shell exited negotiations on a productionsharing agreement (PSA) related to the Skifska block in thedeepwater shelf of the Black Sea," the spokeswoman said.
"Shell had expected that the PSA would be signed in 2012 or2013, but unfortunately it didn't happen," she said, adding thatthe company continues to work in other energy projects inUkraine.
Skifska, predominantly a gas field, was estimated to holdreserves of 200 to 250 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas and wasexpected to eventually produce 5 bcm a year.
Ukraine picked a consortium led by ExxonMobil andShell to develop its Skifska gas field in August 2012, but talkson details were ongoing. The government also picked Shell andChevron as partners in projects to explore and developtwo potentially large onshore shale gas fields. (Reporting by Natalia Zinets; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin)
