Despite Western sanctions, Russia will set a new post-Soviet record for well drilling in 2023. According to analysts, the drilling volume will exceed 30 thousand km. This was reported by Bloomberg.
This shows the resilience of Russian oil production to restrictive measures, the publication writes. Last year, the United States imposed sanctions on dozens of drilling equipment companies. The EU also banned the export of technologies for the Russian energy industry. However, according to research company Rystad Energy, only 15% of the Russian drilling market depends on the technologies of “enemy” countries.
Major Western utilities such as Halliburton and Baker Hughes have sold their units in Russia, but this has had little impact on drilling volumes. These assets were mostly purchased by the local government, which retained the experience gained over the years.
Experts say high rates of drilling are required to maintain production even as old fields are depleted. According to the Oxford Institute for Energy Research, the share of Russian fields with a service life of more than 5 years in 2023 was 96%.
A day before it became known what Russia could be this year to increase LNG exports increased by 15 percent.
Formerly World Bank developed Forecast of Russia’s GDP growth.