Slovakia’s NAFTA believes it is close to winning final approvals from Kyiv to start work this fall on the massive Eastern Ukraine oil and gas field abandoned by Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

Slovakia’s NAFTA believes it is close to winning final approvals from Kyiv to start work this fall on the massive Eastern Ukraine oil and gas field abandoned by Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Stretching over an expanse of Kharkiv and Donetsk larger than Brunei, the field could produce seven billion cubic meters of gas a year in the mid-2020s — the equivalent of half of Ukraine’s current gas imports. After two years of slow movement, two key government meetings took place last week. Adding urgency is the realization that Russia could cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in two years — if the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is commissioned on schedule. NAFTA promises to invest $200 million in the first five years.