Black Sea resources focus of Kiev talks

KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The Ukrainian foreign minister said a national energy company was in talks with its Brazilian counterparts to develop parts of the Black Sea.

Russian energy company Gazprom approached Ukraine's Naftogaz with the idea of forming a joint venture in 2010 as both sides sought to overcome acrimony that exposed vulnerabilities in the regional energy sector. Gazprom, which supplies gas to Europe, cut gas supplies through Ukraine briefly following contract disputes in 2009.

Opposition leaders in Ukraine, however, had claimed moving too close to Russian companies puts the former Soviet republic back in the Kremlin's direct sphere of influence.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishchenko told Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti that Kiev approached Brazil on bilateral development of the Black Sea shelf.

"Naftogaz Ukraine and Brazil's Petrobras are in talks to work out the core parameters of cooperation and determine regions of possible development on the shelf," he was quoted as saying.

Portions of the Black Sea shelf hold about 380 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Ukraine doesn't have the technology to exploit most of the reserves and has focused its technology on pulling minerals from waters west of Crimea.