OREANDA-NEWS. March 13, 2015. Royal Dutch Shell has abandoned two natural gas exploration wells in eastern Ukraine after they were deemed uneconomical, the oil major said on Thursday.

Shell and Ukrainian state-run gas company Ukrgasvydobuvannya jointly started exploration at the wells in the province of Kharkiv Oblast in 2012 but after evaluating geological data, the sides decided to drop the project.

"Based on the exploration results, the parties agreed that further activity within the project was not economically viable and agreed to terminate the agreement," Shell said in a statement.

The two wells are being abandoned and the sites' remediation process has started, the Anglo-Dutch company added.

Shell's only remaining exploration project in Ukraine is the Yuzivska well, which has been under force majeur since the summer of 2014 due to the conflict in the country.