Plans under way for Ukrainian gas fields

An energy company listed on the London stock exchange said it was taking steps to resume production at Ukrainian gas fields where work was suspended last year. Production at the MEX-GOL and SV fields stopped in November because of confusion over whether London-listed Regal Petroleum was meeting Ukrainian rules on gas field operations. A court last week gave the company permission to resume production. "The company now intends to commence the technical operations necessary to resume production from the MEX-GOL and SV fields," the company said in a statement. Regal added that the suspension of an order to halt work on the fields was a temporary ruling. "A substantive decision of the court in the new proceedings is expected in due course," it added. The company said its latest estimate put the proven and probable reserves from both sites at 169 million barrels of oil equivalent.  Kiev is struggling to improve its image as a natural gas transit nation following a series of spats with Russian gas monopoly Gazprom. It hasn't been able to secure financial support to revamp its gas transit system but is reviewing gas deposits, particularly shale gas reserves, in the interim.