Ukrgasvydobuvannya announces tender to buy workover rigs using EBRD loan

MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax) - JSC Ukrgasvydobuvannya has announced that it is beginning to procure new workover rigs under agreements signed in 2020 between the Naftogaz Group, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

"The tender provides for procurement of five 125-tonne workover rigs and another five 180-tonne workover rigs to perform operations at a depth of over 5 km," Ukrainian media said, citing the company's website.

In 2020, Ukrgasvydobuvannya purchased five new rigs, which helped restore dozens of wells a year, the company's acting director general Oleg Tolmachov said.

However, in order to increase production, the company needs more of its own equipment.

"The new rigs will help increase the number of operations on wells, primarily in depleted fields. Thanks to the enhanced performance of these rigs, the employees of our service division will be able to perform the required operations at considerable depths and in complicated geological conditions," Tolmachov said.

The company's efforts are also expected to help increase the efficiency of extracting residual gas reserves.

On January 9, Ukrgasvydobuvannya published a rigs procurement announcement on the E-Procurement Portal (ECEPP), the EBRD's official tender platform.

The procurement procedure is carried out in accordance with the EBRD's procurement principles and rules. Bids are accepted on the ECEPP platform until 2:00 pm. (London time) on March 10, 2023.

As reported, a loan agreement signed in 2020 paves the way for EBRD to provide 51.85 million euros to enable JSC Ukrgasvydobuvannya to update its workover rigs and to introduce energy-efficient technology in one of the company's production facilities.

The loan is provided in two tranches - 36.4 million euros and 15.45 million euros, respectively. The repayment period of the first tranche is nine years and of the second tranche is 15 years. The floating interest rate is six-month EURIBOR + 1% per annum.