Naftogaz will start drilling wells in the Black Sea in five years

Naftogaz Ukrainy NJSC can start drilling wells on the Black Sea shelf not earlier than in five years.

“We can drill the first well on the shelf not earlier than in five years. To drill, you need to involve a company that knows how to drill at depth,” said Naftogaz board member Maurikiy Kalugin in a comment to LIGA.net.

According to the top manager, only one well will cost $4-6 billion. The company is now looking for partners, since it will not be able to complete the project on its own.

It will take six months to drill one well in the sea, not counting the construction of all the necessary infrastructure, said Mauritius Kalugin. According to Naftogaz, production at the Ukrgazvydobuvannya fields can be raised no earlier than three to five years.

In general, according to Naftogaz’s estimates, in order to fulfill its “Strategy 2030”, the state-owned company will need to invest $20 billion in production over the next 10 years.

Recall that earlier the former Executive Director of Naftogaz Otto Waterlander noted that the state company could start drilling wells in the Black Sea in late 2022 – early 2023. For this, Naftogaz and Ukrgazvydobuvannya signed a memorandum of understanding with the Israeli company Naphtha Petroleum and the Romanian company OMV Petrom.

In November 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers, without an auction, handed over to Naftogaz Ukrainy NJSC permission to develop oil and gas fields on the Ukrainian shelf of the Black Sea for 30 years.