"Don't idle, keep drilling". Lukashenko sets demanding tasks for oil workers
The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, sets challenging tasks for domestic oil workers, demanding an increase in exploration and development of new fields. This was stated by the head of state at a meeting on issues of hydrocarbon raw material extraction, reports a BELTA correspondent.
The head of state emphasized the importance of developing the domestic mineral resource base, its effective use, and the intensive development of domestic fields. "We discussed the problem very seriously. It's not just oil and gas. It's also our other mineral reserves. The task was set to find and provide a serious answer to the existing questions," noted Alexander Lukashenko.
"This year we plan to reach (extraction. - Note from BELTA) 2 million tons of oil. Not bad, but what about the future? How will we ensure the intensity of geological exploration and the development of new fields?" - posed questions the head of state.
He noted that the government has prepared a schedule for conducting geological exploration work. "At the same time, the deadlines for their implementation, as usual, are stretched. Until 2030," - noted the President.
The head of state also has questions for the Scientific and Production Center for Geology: "Almost Br35 million has been invested in the modernization of the material and technical base in recent years. However, the actual pace of work on the exploration of new fields is low."
Thus, from 2021 to May 2025, four exploratory wells have been drilled, of which only one has been drilled this year so far. For 2024, an increase in oil reserves of 91 thousand tons has been ensured (twice the level of 2023). However, the plan for 2025 has been formed at a smaller volume - only 70 thousand tons, or 77% of the level of 2024.
"That is, we have already started to decrease again in our plans and specific actions. Why is this decline happening?" - asks Alexander Lukashenko.
"I know for sure that we have reserves here, as in any direction of our activity. Therefore, we should not hesitate but drill and drill. But drill wisely and with the implementation of new technologies! Any drilling, any geological exploration must be justified," - emphasized the Belarusian leader.
In this regard, he raised the question before scientists and the Scientific and Production Center for Geology under the Ministry of Natural Resources, why a number of wells transferred to the oil extraction company turned out to be unclaimed. "In which, as you believe, there should be oil. If 'Belarusneft' has not refused them, it has concluded that there is no oil there," - noted Alexander Lukashenko.
The President demands that the Academy of Sciences, the Scientific and Production Center for Geology, and the company 'Belarusneft' work in unison: "We do not have that much oil, the country is compact, so there is nothing to share here."
"There are no unimportant industries in Belarus. Domestic oil production is not only one of the significant links in the country's energy security but also raw materials for export products with high added value," - emphasized Alexander Lukashenko.
He asked the meeting participants to report on how the oil extraction industry will develop in the country; whether there is a scientific and economic justification for the chosen strategy; what is happening with other oil-bearing regions besides the Pripyat trough; whether exploration and oil extraction are sufficiently equipped with technological equipment and especially personnel; how existing problems are being solved and why corrupt manifestations have not been eliminated.
Alexander Lukashenko provided data that to date, 5 large and medium oil fields and 91 small and very small fields have been discovered in Belarus, as characterized by industry specialists. Most of them are a legacy of the Soviet era.
"The global practice is such that to ensure maximum efficiency of geological exploration work (this is a very expensive undertaking), extraction begins primarily with large reserves, moving on to smaller ones," - noted the head of state.
He reminded that Belarusian fields were intensively exploited during the Soviet era. At that time, the extraction volume peaked at around 8 million tons per year. With the acquisition of sovereignty, this work continued. However, due to the depletion of large and medium fields, extraction volumes decreased to 1.6 million tons in 2016. "I saw that this decline was happening, and then a task was set before the head of our company to reach at least 2 million tons," - said the President.
With the development of seismic exploration methods and optimization of the development system at existing fields, the annual drilling of wells has increased by 2.5 times since 2015. In 2024, 285 thousand meters were drilled. This ensured a positive dynamics of extraction - an average increase of 20 thousand tons per year.