Petrom set a world record in shallow horizontal drilling in Suplacu de Barcau
- Three horizontal wells drilled at a depth of less than 200 meters
- The three wells validate a new approach for the field
- Additional reserves might be unlocked through the new approach, contributing to Romania’s oil production sustainability
Petrom, the largest oil and gas producer in Southeastern Europe set a world record in shallow horizontal drilling. The record was attested by Schlumberger Drilling and Measurements and refers to three horizontal wells, drilled at a depth less than 200 m, in the Suplacu de Barcau oil field.
Johann Pleininger, member of Petrom Executive Board, responsible for Exploration and Production: "The record set at Suplac represents the international recognition of the professionalism and expertise of the team working on this project. We need such experts for the ongoing field redevelopment projects, aimed at unlocking our full potential in Romania. Supported by significant investments, such records will contribute to sustaining the domestic oil production".
One of the strategic directions of Petrom’s exploration and production activity in Romania aims at the redevelopment of several major fields, one of them being Suplacu de Barcau. Therefore, the company focuses on maximizing the production in selected key fields by applying new technology and equipment but also through new exploitation strategies of the fields.
Suplacu de Barcau is a mature oil field, situated in the north-west of Romania, on which the exploitation began in 1960. Insofar, over 2,800 wells were drilled on this field, out of which 744 are still active and supply around 10% of Petrom’s oil production.
The three horizontally drilled wells at a depth of less than 200 meters, in a very complex environment such as the unconsolidated shallow sands at Suplac, validate a possible new exploitations strategy for the field. The wells have a horizontal length of 300 meters.
Basically, by drilling low depth horizontal wells, in an environment where historically only vertical wells were drilled, additional reserves can be accessed, unavailable until now. The future development plans of the Suplacu de Barcau field will take into consideration more wells of this type.
Petrom Group
Petrom Group is the largest oil and gas group in South-eastern Europe, with activities in the business segments of Exploration and Production, Refining and Marketing as well as Gas and Power. The Group consolidated its position on the oil market in South-eastern Europe following a far-reaching modernization and efficiency increase process whereas investments accounted for more than EUR 5 bn during the last five years.
In Romania and Kazakhstan, the Group exploits proved oil and gas reserves of approximately 854 mn boe (in Romania 823 boe) and has a maximum annual refining capacity of 8 mn tons.
On the distribution market of oil products, Petrom Group is present through a network of approximately 800 filling stations, operated under two brands, Petrom and OMV. The activity in Romania is performed through OMV Petrom Marketing, 100% owned by Petrom. OMV Petrom Marketing operates 546 filling stations, out of which 389 are Petrom and 157 OMV. The Group also owns an international network of approximately 250 filling stations, located in Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia.
For the Group’s sustainable development, its strategy includes business diversification by approaching the power market. In this context, Petrom is building a 860 MW gas fired power plant at Brazi and acquired the project for the construction of a 45 MW wind park.
In 2009 the Group’s turnover was EUR 3,795 mn, EBITDA was EUR 969 mn. OMV, the leading energy group in the European growth belt holds a 51.01% share in Petrom. OMV is active in 12 Central European countries in its Refining and Marketing business segment and in 16 countries on four continents in Exploration and Production. Ministry of Economy holds 20.64% of Petrom shares, Property Fund SA holds 20.11%, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 2.03% and 6.21% is free float on Bucharest Stock Exchange.