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A few years ago there was no anticipation that Przemyśl, the longest-exploited field that has produced gas for over 60 years, is hiding 20 more billion cubic meters of natural gas. The field, originally estimated at 74 billion cubic meters of gas, has produced nearly 65 billion cubic meters, apparently nearing the decline stage. Based on an approach supported by latest technology, a decision was made to re-evaluate and revitalise the deposit.

“Poland is not self-sufficient in oil and gas, therefore every cubic metre of indigenous gas, always cheaper than imports, is so valuable. We approach the work on all 120 wells planned in Poland until 2022 with due care,” said Piotr Woźniak, President of the PGNiG Management Board, adding “We have drilled eight new wells and deepened two as part of the revitalisation programme in the Przemyśl field alone. All wells turned out to be positive. Six of them are already producing natural gas. The other ones are in development and will be gradually brought on stream, increasing the total gas output from the field. This year, we plan to drill three more wells and deepen one more. We estimate that in the first year of production, the wells could yield as much as 100 million cubic metres of natural gas.

PGNiG has established a team dedicated exclusively to the Przemyśl field, whose task is to develop, based on geological, geophysical and log data, a digital reservoir and simulation model of all field horizons. The model will be used to identify zones unaffected by existing production and areas showing the greatest reservoir potential to plan new wells.

“In the coming years we plan to drill 20 more wells and deepen the existing ones as part of the exploration programme. Given that each new well yields positive results, we may drill still more wells,’ noted Piotr Woźniak.

The evaluation of western areas of the Przemyśl field, Maćkowice and Tuligłowy, has also commenced. The first step will be to deepen the older wells to enable thorough analysis of the deeper horizons.

PGNiG estimates that within the next five years gas production in the entire Podkarpacie region, where the Przemyśl field is located, will grow 28%, to 1.75 billion cubic meters per year, helping to enhance Poland’s energy security and benefitting the region.