Ukrnafta is upscaling its in-house drilling capabilities despite the challenges of wartime operations.
In 2025, the Company drilled 25 new wells. It is a 150% increase compared to 2024 (10 wells) and the highest in the recent years. Of these, 7 wells were drilled using Ukrnafta’s in-house resources, reflecting the sustainable growth of the Company’s internal operational capacity.
New drilling, well stimulations and other operational measures enabled Ukrnafta to increase total hydrocarbon production in 2025 by 3.39% (in oil equivalent) compared to 2024. Specifically, oil production increased by 3.77%, and gas production grew by 2.86%
Before 2023, new drilling activity remained minimal, averaging just 1–2 wells per year. Following the transition to state ownership, drilling scopes have been increasing consistently.
New drilling dynamics:
- 2023: 6 wells
- 2024: 10 wells (+67%)
- 2025: 25 wells (+150%)
In fact, the number of wells drilled in 2025 equals the total drilled over the entire 2015–2022 period.
At the same time, the volume of drilling performed in-house continues to grow:
- 2023: 6,188 m
- 2024: 11,082 m (+79%)
- 2025: 18,994 m (+71%)
“We are expanding drilling activities within existing licences while simultaneously restoring and upgrading our in-house drilling capacity. This enables a systematic increase in operational volumes and reduces reliance on third-party contractors,” said Bohdan Kukura, Chairman of the Board of JSC “Ukrnafta”
A separate focus is improving well construction efficiency:
- updated approaches to well pad development and access roads
- ongoing replacement of outdated logistics equipment.
As a result, rig-up and rig-down time has been reduced by 24%, delivering up to 10-day savings per well and significantly reducing the amount of equipment required on site.
