Ukraine discovers vast gas deposit holding billions of cubic meters

JSC UkrGasVydobuvannya, which belongs to the Naftogaz Group, has discovered a new gas field, the reserves of which can reach a billion cubic meters of blue fuel.

Rubryka reports, citing the Integrated Communications Department of Naftogaz of Ukraine.

What is the problem?

Ukraine used to buy blue fuel from Russia because its reserves were insufficient to provide for the civilian population and industry.

Since 2014, the volume of gas imports has significantly decreased compared to previous years because Russia unleashed its war of aggression. In 2016, Ukraine stopped buying gas from Russia.

In the pre-war year 2021, Ukraine imported only 2.6 billion cubic meters of "blue fuel." Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko noted that Ukraine will no longer negotiate the extension of the gas transit contract with Russia after its completion.

What is the solution?

Naftogaz plans to achieve a significant increase in production in wartime conditions. This will happen primarily due to two main components: increasing the efficiency of geological exploration and increasing the volume of drilling new wells.

The plan for this year is to increase the drilled meters by more than 50%, so the company discovered a new gas field, the reserves of which can reach a billion cubic meters of blue fuel.

How does it work?

"Testing of the well with a depth of almost 4,000 meters was carried out from scratch and was completed in August. Before drilling, experts conducted a 3D seismic survey," the report said. "The received geological information indicates that the reserves of the new deposit may reach 1 billion cubic meters of gas." 

According to Oleh Tolmachev, acting general director, this is not the first discovery of new hydrocarbon deposits this year. He also added that the company will continue the program of geological exploration at this deposit and plans to drill new wells here.

"Each successful prospecting or exploratory well, as you know, makes it possible to plan drilling two, three, four, and sometimes five additional wells on the open deposit," Oleh Tolmachev explains. "So now we are optimizing our drilling portfolio and laying additional wells that can potentially give high flow rates." 

Since the beginning of 2023, Ukrgazvydobuvannya has already commissioned seven wells with high production with more than 100,000 cubic meters. 

As reported, the Naftogaz Group recently launched two high-throughput wells totaling more than 430,000 cubic meters daily.

According to the Ministry of Energy, more than 12.3 billion cubic meters of blue fuel had already been pumped into Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities (PSG) as of August. Gas prices for the population are fixed at 7.96 hryvnias per cubic meter at least until April 30, 2024.