NIS drills first horizontal well in Serbia

Декабря 17, 2013

Drilling of the first horizontal well in Serbia has been successfully completed at the Kikinda Varos oil field, which is being developed by NIS. The results obtained have confirmed the geologic model previously built by NIS specialists.

The well is 2,670 meters deep, with a 250 meter lateral. It took thirty days to complete the work. Well testing is currently underway. So far, the well has produced a gushing flow of waterless oil at a rate of approximately forty tons per day.

The horizontal well at Kikinda Varos field is the first success of similar projects not only in Serbia, but in all the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In the future, NIS plans to use this technology for its new high potential project: the development of the heavy high-viscosity oil from Gaj field, where traditional drilling methods won’t work.

“Using new technologies that boost our company’s performance is one of our priorities. Once the innovations are successfully tested at our fields, we go on to apply the experience at our other assets, including those in Serbia. The use of such technologies as horizontal drilling that are unique for the region enables production growth in such places where it was simply impossible before,” says Gazprom Neft First Deputy CEO and Chairman of the NIS Board of Directors Vadim Yakovlev.

NIS is one of the largest vertically integrated power generating companies in Southeastern Europe. Its main lines of business are the exploration, production, and refining of oil and gas, as well as the sale of petroleum products. Gazprom Neft owns 56.15 percent of the shares of NIS. The Republic of Serbia has a 29.88 percent ownership stake in NIS. An oil refinery in Serbia with two production sites, one in the city of Pančevo and one in Novi Sad, which have a combined capacity of 7 million tons of oil per year, belongs to NIS, as does an autogas production shop in Elemir. The company’s total production volume is approximately 1.8 million tons of oil equivalent per year. The company’s retail network includes over 500 filling stations, loading stations, and oil depots located in the countries of the Balkan region. Besides Serbia, NIS operates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkmenistan, Angola, and other countries.