Ukrnafta seeks to increase oil extraction at its oilfields

MOSCOW. May 26 (Interfax) - PJSC Ukrnafta plans to optimize 28 reservoir pressure maintenance systems at the existing oilfields and implement new systems where necessary to increase oil extraction there, Ukrainian media reported with reference to the company's press release on Friday.

"The company has actively implemented various methods for increasing oil extraction since Soviet times. These include primarily thermal ones, such as hot water and steam injection, in-situ combustion, and various flooding methods. The effect of in-situ combustion lasts for more than ten years," the press release quoted Ukrnafta CEO Sergei Koretsky as saying at the 3rd Newfolk SCC anti-crisis oil and gas conference in Lvov.

The company should optimize the 28 reservoir pressure maintenance systems it possesses and introduce new once at oilfields where necessary, he said.

"For comparison, European benchmarks return 100% of the extracted fluid back into the reservoir, while we can return only 18% of it on average," he said.

Ukrnafta plans to launch advanced methods of increasing oil output, such as thermal and gas ones, as well as polymer flooding and in-situ combustion, on industrial scale, he said.

As reported earlier, Ukrnafta sought to increase oil production by 6% in 2023 and continue increasing extraction over the following five-year period. It plans to drill three new wellbores and three sidetracks this year.