JKX Oil & Gas
JKX Oil & Gas plc (LSE: JKX) is a British-based hydrocarbon exploration and production company, listed on the London Stock Exchange. JKX operates primarily in Russia and Ukraine, but has a presence in six other countries in Europe and North America. In June 2011, VTB Capital plc, a subsidiary of Russian state bank VTB, increased its share in JKX Oil & Gas to 6.4%. The deal makes VTB bank the fourth largest shareholder in the company. Ihor Kolomoyskyi, the co-owner of Privat Group, remains the largest shareholder in JKX with a 27.06% stake.
History
The Company was founded by John Kenny and Paul Davies as JP Kenny Exploration & Production Ltd in 1995 to search for oil and gas in the former Soviet Union.
Operations
Ukraine and Russia
The company concentrates principally on projects in Ukraine and Russia. In the former, JKX is the dominant private enterprise in exploration and production, accounting for over three-quarters of all oil and almost half of all gas produced by non-state-owned companies. The firm has licence to operate in several mainly-onshore oil fields in the Poltava region. The company moved into Russia in 2007 with the $50 million purchase of Yuzhgazenergie, which holds the licence to exploit a gas field in the Koshekhablsky District in the south of the country.