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FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM
Naftogaz attracts investor to boost depleted fields output
UKRAINE
The production enhancement contract is a first for Ukraine.
UKRAINE’S state-run oil and gas company Naf- togaz has attracted an international company, Expert Petroleum, to increase hydrocarbon pro- duction from the fields of Ukrgasvydobuvannya in Western Ukraine, it said in a press release on April 21.
Within the first ever full-scale production enhancement contract (PEC) in the history of Ukraine’s oil and gas industry, the Western part- ner has committed to about UAH1bn ($30mn) into intensification, drilling and development of infrastructure in the first five years of co-opera- tion and, potentially, to make additional invest- ments after that.
The partnership between Naftogaz and Expert Petroleum will generate at least an addi- tional 300mn cubic metres of gas within five years from 13 small fields in Western Ukraine, Naftogaz said.
“International partnership developing is one of the key vectors of Naftogaz’ transformation programme,” said Naftogaz Group’s chief trans- formation officer, Otto Waterlander. “The agree- ment assumes the largest foreign investment in Ukraine’s gas production over the last five years.
“This money will be directed into devel- opment of those small-size depleted fields for which Naftogaz does not have enough [of its] own resources under the circumstances of [the]
significant drop in prices for energy resources,” he went on to say. “Instead of the expected pro- duction decline on these fields, we will achieve an increase in production.”
According to Waterlander, the deal will bring to Ukraine “new technologies and European standards for management of ‘old’ and ‘small’ deposits, which can be extrapolated to other fields.”
“After all, most of Ukraine’s oil and gas assets are depleted and small in size,” he concluded. “This is an important event for stabilising the situation not only in the industry but also in the Ukrainian economy.”
Expert Petroleum is a French-owned com- pany that is part of the GMS holding, a large investment group with assets all around the world. Expert Petroleum maximises mature oil and gas fields’ potential by investing in these assets taking execution and incremental produc- tion risks through a long-term PEC.
Expert Petroleum’s technical capabilities and expertise are focused on fit for purpose and new technologies and enhanced process to rehabili- tate old wells and reservoirs in decline. At pres- ent, the company effectively manages production at 25 depleted fields, operates 1,200 wells, and produces 8,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). It has about 1,000 employees.
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