Ukrnafta to boost production 6% in 2023
MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) - Ukrnafta plans to increase production of oil and gas condensate by 6% in 2023, Ukrainian media said, citing the company's CEO Sergei Koretsky.
"We have set the objective of not just containing the natural decline in production, but also increasing production by 6% this year already," Koretsky said on social media without specifying anticipated production figures.
He said the company plans to increase drilling this year, is drafting an ambitious development strategy and has set goals to purchase new licenses.
Ukrnafta has undergone compliance procedures with two state banks and one private one, and credit lines have already been opened by all three lenders, Koretsky said.
The company is also working on recovering billions in receivables and expects that optimization processes completed within a short period will generate hundreds of millions of hryvnia in savings per year. The budget for 2023 targets a record net profit, Koretsky said.
He also said Ukrnafta has purchased the first 25 gasoline/gas tanker trucks for its own fleet in public auctions. The company will soon complete the purchase of the tanker trucks, including ten for liquefied gas and 15 for light oil products.
The company will immediately move on to the purchase of a second batch of gasoline/gas tanker trucks, he said, adding that the aim is for Ukrnafta to own about half the trucks it needs and use outsourced services for the remainder.
Ukrnafta reduced production of oil and condensate by 0.1% to 1.499 million tonnes in 2021. Gas production slumped by 0.9% to 1.117 billion cubic meters. The company has not yet released production results for 2022.
Koretsky became head of Ukrnafta in November 2022, soon after the company's shares were seized by the state. Prior to the seizure, the Privat Group of Igor Kolomoisky and Gennady Bogolyubov owned about 42% of shares in Ukrnafta and state company Naftogaz Ukraine held a controlling stake. Unscheduled tax and financial audits were carried out at Ukrnafta last December, after which the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) announced the discovery of massive schemes carried out by the former management of Ukrnafta and crude refiner Ukrtatnafta (Kremenchug Oil Refinery) to embezzle about $1.1 billion.
Ukrnafta owns 85 special permits to produce hydrocarbons, and has 1,791 oil wells and 147 gas wells. The company, which employed 448 people as of the beginning of February, also owns 537 filling stations.