NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine should get rid of its oil production assets in Egypt as unprofitable, the company CEO, Andriy Kobolev, told journalists Thursday, December 28.
”It [the oil production business in Egypt] could be developed or we could quit it… I think we should quit it,” said Kobolev, adding that today this business does not bring profit to the company.
He also noted that Naftogaz was considering the sale of its foreign oil business, but that there were no potential buyers.
As UNIAN reported earlier, according to the Naftogaz report for 2015, last year the oil-producing Petrosannan Company, where Naftogaz subsidiary Zakordonnaftogaz has its share, increased production volumes in 2015, compared to 2014 year, by 20.7% in oil, having produced 318,000 tonnes, and by 3.8 times in gas, having produced 192 million cubic meters of natural gas.
In 2015, the drilling of six wells was completed in Egypt in the framework of a joint project, and construction of pipelines was commenced, to allow Petrosannan Company to sell the gas produced.
Late March 2016, Kobolev reported that Naftogaz intended to reduce the expenditures for its oil production asset in Egypt due to the low oil prices. Then he said that he thought inexpedient selling a foreign company in the current environment of global oil prices.
UNIAN memo. The project on exploration and production of hydrocarbons in Egypt has been implemented by Naftogaz of Ukraine since 2007, under a concession agreement between Egypt, Naftogaz, and Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation. Since 2012, these projects are led by Petrosannan Company, which is a joint venture. In 2015, the company carried out exploration of oil and gas deposits in the Eastern and Western deserts of Egypt.
According to Naftogaz report for 2015, the overall proven and probable reserves of raw materials, which Zakordonnaftogaz operates in Egypt are at 1.1 million tonnes of oil and 599.6 million cubic meters of gas.
