Ukraine mulls new shale gas tender in Sept

KIEV, July 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine, which struck deals with Shell and Chevron to explore and develop two shale gas deposits this year, may hold a tender for another shale gas field in September, Deputy Minister for Natural Resources Dmytro Mormul said on Tuesday.

"We will try to put up this area (for a tender) in early September when everyone is back from vacations," Mormul said when asked about the ministry's plans for the Slobozhanska shale gas area in the eastern Kharkiv region.

He did not provide any details.

Ukraine has Europe's third-largest shale gas reserves at 42 trillion cubic feet (1.2 trillion cubic metres), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, behind France and Norway.

In May, Ukraine picked Shell and Chevron as partners in ventures working on two potentially large shake gas fields, Yuzivska and Olesska.

Ukraine imports about two-thirds of its gas from Russia at a price that has been rising steadily for the last few years and is expected to average about $415 per thousand cubic metres this year.

The Kiev government hopes that developing domestic shale gas deposits will ease its dependence on Moscow.