KIEV, Aug. 14 - Ukraine selected ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell to lead exploration and development of the Skifske deepwater natural gas field offshore the Black Sea, rejecting a bid from Russia’s Lukoil, the Financial Times reported.

The government is expected to make an official announcement on Wednesday selecting the pool of companies that in addition to ExxonMobil and Shell also include Romania’s OMV Petrom and Ukraine’s Nadra.