"Naftogaz" will take part in a new tender for the development of the "Delphin" oil and gas field

The company wants to increase gas production through ultra-deep drilling

JSC "Naftogaz of Ukraine" is ready to participate in a new competition for the development of the "Delfin" oil and gas field. In an interview with "RBC-Ukraine", the Chairman of the Board of the NAK Andriy Kobolev told about this.

"I think there is no need to talk about the tender for the development of hydrocarbons at the Delfin deposit. We are glad that it was canceled. We hope that a normal, full-fledged, high-quality tender will be held, taking into account the licenses that already belong to Naftogaz." it will be possible to quickly increase the volume of gas there. But we, as Naftogaz, are ready to participate in a fair competition. If we lose to companies of the level of Exxon and Shell, there are no questions. Then everything is clear. If we lose again, it is not clear to whom, then we will have questions." , - said Kobolev.

According to him, "Naftogaz" does not yet understand the final time frame when a new tender will be announced.

"We know that there is a desire to attract a large international investor. Taking into account the exit of large international investors from the same area of ​​Romania, which is more developed and more understandable, we think that this is unlikely," Kobolev said.

The head of the NAK explained why "Naftogaz" is interested in the development of the "Delfin" site.

In the area of ​​traditional hydrocarbons, the probability of Naftogaz discovering a second Shebelynka field or something close to it, if only two or three times less, is close to zero. This means that we need to go either to ultra-deep drilling, like object 888, or to dense rocks, or to the shelf (offshore drilling, - ed.). The readiest for drilling on the shelf is the "Delfin" section.

We will remind you that four companies - Caspian Drilling International Ltd., Frontera, Trident Black Sea and PrJSC "Ukrnaftoburinnia" - applied to participate in the previous competition for the development of the Delfiin oil and gas field. However, later Caspian Drilling International Ltd. refused to participate, after which Trident Black Sea was announced as the winner.

After the results were inflated, then-Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman called the tender insufficiently representative and suggested that it be announced again.

"The course of the tender and its results, which were determined by the interdepartmental commission under the Ministry of Energy, showed that the competition was not representative enough, not competitive enough and, in general, did not live up to expectations in terms of the arrival of players from the world's top league of gas producers to our market," the prime minister said.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine under the leadership of Oleksiy Honcharuk canceled the tender for the conclusion of an agreement on the distribution of hydrocarbons that will be extracted within the boundaries of the Delfin area. The government adopted the relevant resolution on September 11, 2019.

Subsequently, the Ukrainian Geological Survey revealed that a new tender on the Black Sea shelf will be announced in March. The terms of the new tender will become known no earlier than March 2020.