The Black Sea shelf is the main region due to which the main increase in Naftogaz resources is planned

The Black Sea shelf is the main region due to which the main increase in Naftogaz resources is planned.

Oleksandr Romanyuk, Director of the Naftogaz Exploration and Production Division of Naftogaz of Ukraine, spoke about the strategic directions of development and gas production of Naftogaz within the framework of the Odesa Offshore Conference 2021 (OOC2021) on September 23, 2021.

Ukraine, having great potential on the Black Sea shelf, was unable to attract large investors and partners to the development of this region, although there was an opportunity 30 years ago, noted Romanyuk.

The Black Sea shelf is the main region due to which the main increase in resources and reserves of Naftogaz is planned. Therefore, the company plans to work intensively in this direction in the near future.

First of all, the main forces have already been directed to seismic exploration, in order to facilitate the involvement of new partners in the active development of the designated region.

Norwegian PGS commissioned Naftogaz to start research on the Black Sea shelf

Naftogaz has started studying the relief of the bottom of the Black Sea, the research is being conducted by the Norwegian company Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS). Also, Naftogaz specialists determined the drilling site for a new well on Yuzivska Block and candidate wells for restoration in areas within the limits of production sharing agreements. Oleksandr Romanyuk, director of the Naftogaz Exploration and Production division, announced this during the Ukrainian Energy Forum. It will be recalled that, in order to develop its resource base, Naftogaz has started exploration and development in strategic areas, access to which the company was granted by the Government. Thus, in March of this year, Naftogaz received special permits for 30 plots in the Black Sea, in December 2020 it acquired 100% of Nadra Yuzivska LLC, which is the owner of the license for Yuzivska Block, and also signed agreements with the state on the distribution of production to 4 new plots.

"We have developed accelerated plans for our strategic assets. Our goal is to shorten the exploration period for new areas to 2-3 years. For example, we plan to get the first gas at Ivanivska Block within the PSA as early as 2022 due to the restoration of old wells. For the implementation of strategic projects, we involve international partners, some of whom have already signed memorandums of understanding. However, the success of such cooperation depends on the support of the state. There are a number of regulatory issues that need to be addressed. These are the preservation of incentive rent, procedural issues of implementation of PSA and simplification of purchases," said Oleksandr Romaniuk.

As previously reported, Naftogaz chose the Norwegian company PGS as a contractor to perform 3D seismic for the exploration of areas in the Black Sea. She has already started preparatory work - researching the topography of the seabed, and in the coming months, she will move directly to geological research.

According to Oleksandr Romanyuk, the company plans to restore wells that were drilled earlier on Yuzivska Block. In addition, based on the results of the analysis of available geological data, a place for the construction of a new well has already been determined. It is planned to start drilling at the end of this year.

As part of the production sharing agreements, Naftogaz received special permits for new areas and began reprocessing and reinterpretation of the results of 2D seismic surveys of previous years. The restoration of previously drilled wells and the drilling of new ones are planned for the beginning of 2022. Preparations are currently underway for the procurement of 3D seismic services.

At the same time, Oleksandr Romaniuk spoke about the intentions of Naftogaz to launch the first Ukrainian gas investment congress in October this year, with the aim of effectively attracting investments and partners in gas production projects both on the Black Sea shelf and on land.