KIEV, November 25 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has issued instructions for the drafting of a project to prospect for gas off the country's Black Sea coast.

"I would like us to start implementing a large-scale project, including the entire shelf, and including all the components of prospecting and production, and I ask you to launch this as a separate state program," the government press service quoted Tymoshenko as saying.

She also said the project should involve the attraction of "long-term loans from world financial institutions."

Tymoshenko said this would be "a serious large-scale project." However, she failed to specify what deposits exactly she meant.

The Ukrainian government earlier planned to develop a section of the Black Sea shelf near the Kerch Strait together with the U.S. oil company Vanco. However when Tymoshenko became premier, she tore up the agreement, saying Ukraine should develop such resources itself rather than give them to foreign companies. The decision was later suspended by the country's president, but a second resolution was issued by the government on November 19.

The Kerch area's reserves are estimated at 10.8 billion cu m of natural gas. Production at this section would allow Ukraine to increase its annual gas production by 4 billion cu m, and oil by 3 million tons.

Ukraine presently produces about 20 billion cu m of gas and 4 million tons of oil a year, or about 20% of its annual consumption.