As of year-end 2018, Smart Energy Group showed a significant 31% increase in hydrocarbon production. As early as in February 2019, drilling of a new exploration well began in Poltava region. Victor Dudzich, technical director of Smart Energy, will tell us about promising technologies and what helped the company boost its production.
Which of the hydrocarbon production assets showed the most significant growth in 2018? What contributed to this, in your opinion?
Of all the companies in the Group, the Representative Office of Regal Petroleum Corporation Limited, which operates in Poltava region, showed the most significant increase in hydrocarbon production last year.
In the first place, bringing of well No. 12 into production at Svyrydivske gas condensate field after its workover contributed to that. Due to the optimal technical solutions in the process of workover, we received an initial flow rate that was far higher than the planned one. In addition, in the process of work performance we managed to minimize the technical risks of failure to obtain hydrocarbon inflow.
Moreover, optimization of the technological regime for one of the wells drilled in 2017 made it possible to increase its productivity by 20%.
Overall, a daily average production of hydrocarbons at Mekhedivsko–Golotovshchynske and Svyrydivske fields in Poltava region totalled 2,717 boepd in 2018: 341,216 m3/day of gas, 70 m3/day of condensate and 36 m3/day of LPG. For comparison, the production rate in 2017 stood at 1,629 boepd in total: 197,961 m3/day of gas, 47 m3/day of condensate and 24 m3/day of LPG. Essentially, we see an increase in daily average production by 67%.
I would like to note that the main factor of growth is a well-coordinated daily hard work of the entire technical team of Smart Energy Group.
Please tell us more about the most significant and interesting technological solutions that were used in the projects?
We applied a number of innovative solutions that allowed us to successfully bring in two wells after drilling, No. 28 at Ostroverkhivske gas condensate field and No. 10 at Vasyshchevske gas condensate field, as well as to make workover of well No. 12, which I mentioned earlier.
When implementing all of its projects, Smart Energy Group switched to the technology of initial stripping of producing horizons using invert-emulsion systems. This enabled us to minimize the negative impact of the drilling mud on the reservoir. In addition, this technology is used in conjunction with a rather new, both in Ukraine and worldwide, technology of separating formations by using swellable packer systems. The use of this solution enables us to abandon the traditional cementing technology. Thus, we reduce the risk of negative impact on a productive reservoir from plug-back mixtures and from the process of cementation itself.
The combined use of these two and other technologies and approaches enabled us to receive influx of hydrocarbons at levels higher than expected.
In your opinion, what key changes occurred in the oil and gas related service market of Ukraine last year?
The main changes were related to large scope of work that the state company Ukrgazvydobuvannya announced on the market. Colleagues engaged virtually all the resources available in the Ukrainian market, both domestically and externally, including some world leaders and suppliers who are quite new ones for our market, such as Chinese companies. Due to such entry into the market, there is a certain shortage felt by private oil and gas companies for many sorts of services. Especially it affected the services of well workover.
Yet, at the same time, Ukrgazvydobuvannya does not fully use the capacity of local drilling contractors, although the quality of services offered by domestic drilling contractors improved significantly over the past few years due to the upgrade of the drilling equipment pool, the use of modern technologies and improvement in the production culture.
What drilling and production stimulation technologies are the most promising ones for Ukraine to your mind? What is needed for their successful implementation?
There are quite a lot of technologies on the market, but in order to understand the prospects and feasibility of using one or another technology for a particular field and a particular well, it is necessary to assess efficiency of such technologies' application. In some situations, fracturing can work, in others it is acid treatment. Somewhere there is a need for horizontal drilling, and somewhere for a radial drilling of a productive horizon, etc. It all depends on specific geological and technical tasks and expediency, including economic feasibility, in the application of one or another technology. Only comprehensive solution of this issue will make it possible to obtain the necessary result. That is to say, there is no universal key. Modern technologies are just a tool in the hands of professionals. It is the level of their professionalism that predetermines how efficiently the technologies are used.
In your opinion, how effective is the cooperation between contracting organizations and customers in Ukraine? What changes could have a positive impact on this sector?
We always work openly and transparently. We place our bids on open trading platforms and consider various offers. We are interested in obtaining only quality services and flexibility in working with us as clients. At the same time, our relations with contractors are always clearly regulated by contractual obligations, that is, they are as effective as possible.