KIEV, June 25 - The development of two new natural gas fields has started in western Ukraine's Lviv Region, the press service of state-owned gas producer Ukrgazdobycha said Monday.

Ukraine consumes about 75-76 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually, most of which comes from Central Asia via Russia's pipelines. The country's own production totals only 21 bln cu m, but the government has repeatedly said it intends to reduce the country's dependence on foreign energy.