First established as the Oil Surveying State Enterprise in Krakow in 1946, OGEC Cracow today executes large oil and gas drilling contracts across Europe, Asia and Africa. From initial contracts involving just the delivery of drilling rig crews, the company has led a programme of modernisation to its drilling rig fleet resulting in a shower of ‘turn key basis’ contracts. Nowadays, the company is one of the key players in the contractors’ market, beating competitors thanks to a combination of the high qualifications and experience of its employees, and its expeditious and reliable execution of works.
OGEC Cracow now stands at the forefront of exciting new markets. Poland recently became the subject of interest from global firms due to the discovery of shale gas deposits. OGEC Cracow has been an active member in the process of its recovery, participating in the exploration of the shale gas and crude oil, and extracting methane from hard coal deposits through four units working under the direction of PGNiG SA and other domestic market operators.
For 20 years, OGEC Cracow has also had a branch registered in the Czech Republic. Its first works there were executed on behalf of the Czech Geological Office when the country was still Czechoslovakia. Now OGEC Cracow has returned to this market, drilling for Česká Naftařská Společnost s.r.o surveying bores in the vicinity of Breclav. OGEC Cracow has also formed a consortium with the OGEC Jasło, and together the companies are completing an agreement with RWE Dea’s operations in the Czech Republic; once signed, the enterprises will execute the drilling of underground gas stores.
For many analysts, drilling in the Czech Republic and the potential of this market is quite a surprise. For the Polish firms, it is an excellent market and the beginning of new cooperation within the Capital Group.
European expansion
Ukraine holds tremendous potential in terms of its raw materials and attracts the best firms from around the world in search of what is buried beneath. OGEC Cracow’s first contract in the Ukraine was executed back in the 1990s for the operator JKX/PPC Poltava. From this, the firm committed to developments in Ukraine for the long term, running among other things works in the vicinity of Poltava where it has been drilling exploration and production wells using the N75 unit. In total, 20 specialists from Krakow have worked there.
OGEC Cracow also has its share in the extraction of natural resources in Kazakhstan. The company has been in this market since 1998, when it established its own branch and signed a contract for drilling works for KaraKudukMunai. After this contract, there was again a deluge of other offers, including some from the largest firms operating in that market: KazMunaiGaz, Lukoil, Chevron, Petro Kazakhstan, Orient Petroleum, Kazakhmys Petroleum and KazakhOilAktobe.
Unfortunately the economic crises which affected Kazakhstani and Chinese expansion in this area caused a slow withdrawal from the Kazakh market. Currently in Kazakhstan there are three rigs operating mainly for local firms. One of the larger units in Europe, the N1625, is drilling for Kazakhmys Petroleum while for North Caspian Oil Development LLP – another giant from the Krakow stables – is working with the Midco. The third contract is being carried out with the H1000 unit, which, for a few years, has been drilling for the Kazakhstani contractor Ken Sary. The number of workers employed in Kazakhstan currently stands at about 100. However, the firm remains poised to take advantage of better circumstances in the country as the market improves.
Into the east
Despite its expertise, some of the company’s largest successes have happened by chance. Over 13 years ago, OGEC Cracow and PGNiG SA were interested in the positive attitude of Pakistani authorities toward investment in the country, as well as the possibilities created by the presence of many international operator firms in this market. PGNiG SA procured concessions for surveying works in three provinces – Punjab, Sind and Baluchistan – and the Surveying Enterprise from Krakow quickly signed a contract with the American firm Occidental. The tender was won through the quality of the IRI 1700 unit contracted for the work, as well as the standard of the crew operating it. The unit was transported by sea from Gdynia to Karachi, and it continues to work in Pakistan to this day.
After works for Occidental, the OGEC Cracow procured contracts for drilling works by public tender for such internationally recognised operator firms as Premier Oil, Orient Petroleum, OMV, British Gas, BP, Lasmo, ENI and Petronas, as well as for domestic companies including OGDCL, MariGas and PPL.
Expansion into the hydrocarbon market in Pakistan was the joint idea of PGNiG SA and OGEC Cracow, which brought about an opportunity for cooperation. In 2009, OGEC Cracow won the tender for drilling exploration wells for PGNiG SA. The principal target for surveying was the Pab Formation, located at a depth of 2,642m.
This was not the first time that OGEC Cracow had worked for its owner in Pakistan, previously being in the vicinity of Sabzal and also in Sindh province in 1999.
Today in Pakistan two Polish drilling units are working with the Swab Unit, on which 30 Polish people are employed as key personnel, together with 100 Pakistan personnel. The IRI 1700 and RR 600 units run operations for the Pakistan operator OGDCL, which has contracted them for the next three years.
Africa’s rising star
OGEC Cracow has also had a strong interest in the African market for many years. The company’s first forray into the continent was a contract in Ghana with the Australian company Fusion Oil & Gas. The next followed in 2007, with an agreement for the execution of drilling for the international concern SASOL. These took place in Mozambique, in the vicinity of the town of Vilanculos. For the drilling tasks, two OGEC Cracow units and one of ZRG Krosno were contracted. After the contract was over, the RR 600 unit started drilling works for the Norwegian oil company DNO International before returning to work in Poland in September 2008.
This was not the end of the African adventure. The company attracted the attention of Tullow Oil in Uganda. The first supplies from IRI 750 reached the town of Butiaba in Uganda at the end of February 2008. After a short overhaul, the first well was drilled – Taitai-1.
From this, OGEC Cracow commenced a substantial programme of drilling for Tullow Oil plc in an area near Lake Albert, northeast Uganda. This ongoing project caused a great boom for the firm in the African market and in July 2010 OGEC Cracow again signed a contract with SASOL in Mozambique, using a K900 unit for the works.
The geographic range of works that OGEC Cracow undertakes is evidently stunning. However, the best commendation for the company remains its workers. Their versatile professional experience, unique knowledge, and their ability to undertake and happily complete even the most ‘mission impossible’ tasks make them the key to OGEC Cracow’s international successes. This combination of knowledge, experience and high work-ethic, along with access to the best equipment for the task, enables the company to set high standards and fulfil all of its customers’ requirements.
