Today, PKN ORLEN spudded another exploration well in the Lublin region: in the village of Berejów, within the Lubartów licence area. It is already a second horizontal well to be drilled by PKN ORLEN this year.
The results of laboratory analysis of 300 metres of rock samples taken during vertical exploration drilling in the commune of Niedźwiada, which was finished in the first quarter of 2012, have persuaded PKN ORLEN to return to the licence area. The analysis focused on the properties (physical, mechanical and geochemical), as well as the gas and organic matter content of the rock core. The promising results of the study prompted a decision to continue exploration work in Berejów, by drilling a directional well there.
“Such analyses, which usually take months to complete, are a crucial stage of our work, allowing us to investigate the properties of a given shale gas play. Based on their results, we can make decisions regarding further wells, their designs and methods of recovery enhancement, i.e. fracking. The analysed rock core samples from the first well have revealed the presence of hydrocarbons in Berejów. Now we must estimate the volumes and - most importantly - the economic viability of the prospect,” said Wiesław Prugar, President of the ORLEN Upstream Management Board.
Work on the second well in Berejów will take some 50 days. Its total length, including the horizontal section (over 1,000 metres), will reach approximately 3,800 metres. Next year, PKN ORLEN is also planning a hydraulic fracturing treatment of the horizontal section. A production test will follow to assess the gas flow rates in the region.
Berejów-OU2K is a second horizontal well to have ever been drilled by PKN ORLEN. The first one, with the total length of 4,100 metres, was made by PKN ORLEN in autumn in Syczyn, within the Wierzbica licence area. Since 2011, as part of its unconventional hydrocarbon exploration programme, PKN ORLEN has finished work on four investigation wells, and is ready to launch another two by the end of this year.
In line with its strategy for 2013–2017 announced on November 30th 2012, in the next five years PKN ORLEN may spend up to PLN 5.1bn on upstream projects, chiefly shale gas exploration and production projects. As part of the PLN 2.4bn core CAPEX budget, at least 50 wells will be drilled, with first profits from the upstream projects expected to be seen in 2017.