Russian oil companies are drilling wells at a pace unseen in at least the past five years.
Bloomberg journalists write about this.
It is assumed that Russia is preparing both for the easing of production restrictions within the framework of OPEC+ and for the possibility of easing some international sanctions due to the invasion of Ukraine.
"The level of activity, which is also more than a third higher than pre-war levels, is the latest sign of the Russian oil industry's resilience to Western sanctions, which were designed to undermine the country's long-term ability to extract oil by limiting access to advanced technology and equipment," the material says.
“It’s safe to say that the Russian oilfield services industry has largely adapted successfully to the sanctions regime ,” said Ronald Smith of Emerging Markets Oil & Gas Consulting Partners LLC, adding, “ That doesn’t mean that a perfect replacement has been found in all cases, but suitable substitutes exist at a broader level.”
According to the latest available data from Bloomberg, in January-February, the average volume of production drilling in Russia was more than 2,370 km (7.8 million ft), which exceeds the seasonal average in the three years since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, which caused restrictions on Western oilfield services.
"There may be some regression in drilling technologies, " Bloomberg quotes Serhiy Vakulenko, who is currently a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. " Overall, the impact of sanctions and the withdrawal of Western service providers is much less than many predicted three years ago."
The Russian Energy Ministry has not commented on the pace of oil drilling in the country and the impact of Western sanctions.
We will remind you that earlier the Russian Federation announced the conditions under which a guaranteed immediate end to the war in Ukraine is possible.