Tatneft is planning to start oil production in Libya this year, Rinat Aflyatunov, Chief Geologist and Deputy General Director of the company told reporters.
According to him, the decision on the launch has already been made and the company has started to actively prepare for putting the fields into pilot production this year. Aflyatunov did not specify which sites.
"The process of preparation for the launch is already underway. Such a decision has already been made. It will be ready by the end of the year," he said answering a question on the launch of production.
Aflyatunov added that the company is ready to increase the volume of oil production and exploration works this year. "As you understand, the market situation is not very stable, but we are ready to speed up both production and exploration," he said on the sidelines of the International Technological Forum. According to Aflyatunov, this year the company expects to increase its oil reserves by 28 million tons against 25 million tons produced a year before.
Tatneft's oil production in 2021 grew by almost 7% up to 27.83 million tons. The company reported that this year it was planning to increase it by 1.8% up to 28.3 mln tons, taking into account the limitations within the framework of OPEC+ agreement.
Asked about the possible level of production growth, Aflyatunov said: "Right now we are living in a "on demand" environment, we are not planning to cut yet. The situation is not very stable, but at the moment our specialists, who are responsible for sales, say that so far everything is normal".
He noted that the company is considering the possibility of acquiring new license areas outside of Tatarstan. "The strategy of increasing production was built not only from the acquisition of new territories, it was supposed to carry out active work in the current territories. Now we also actively start working in NAO, new territories or territories outside Tatarstan are also in our line of actions," Aflyatunov explained. In March, the company informed that its reserves of 810 million tons allow increasing production up to more than 38 million tons per year under favorable conditions.
The top manager added that the company feels stable so far. "In many respects this stability is probably due not only to, let's say, partners' willingness to buy, but we also have a high level of vertical integration: we have more than half of our production processed at our own refinery and into a fairly large line of oil products," he concluded.
In October, Tatneft reported on the resumption of exploration in Libya. Tatneft worked in Libya under a concession agreement from 2005 until 2014, when the country was engulfed in hostilities. The company's CEO Nail Maganov said the company was ready to resume oil production in Libya, and it was also reported about the possibility of a joint venture with the National Libyan Corporation.
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Based on materials from TASS