Oil & Gas Exploration Co. JASŁO plc
A ‘well drilled’ unit
One of the leading Polish drilling contractors, offering a wide variety of services in the field of the exploration of mineral raw materials, Oil & Gas Exploration Co. JASŁO (OGEC JASŁO) was established in 1953 and is today one part of the PGNiG Capital Group.
In its nearly 60 years of activity the company has been responsible for the drilling of thousands of wells, including Poland’s two deepest, the Kuzmina-1 and the Paszowa-1.
OGEC JASŁO’S activities to date have directly contributed to the discovery of more than 70 crude oil and natural gas reservoirs, including the biggest natural gas deposit in Poland found in Przemysl-Jaksmanice. Furthermore, the company successfully performs drilling projects in Libya, Germany, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine, where it has been co-operating successfully with international drilling operators for years.
“As a drilling contractor, what the company does is provide services in the form of both daily rate and turn key model contracts,” explains Wieslaw Piwowarczyk, director of overseas operations of OGEC JASŁO. “In the former type of contract the company is generally employed by a client as a drilling and work over service provider. In this instance it is responsible for the seamless, smooth, undisturbed, safe and professional performance of the drilling rig and its rig staff.
“In the second, turnkey model, OGEC JASŁO’s responsibility extends to the entire project, from the rig site construction itself, through the supply of all materials and services required to complete the whole task professionally and efficiently. In such cases the company is able to use its own auxiliary drilling services, including cementing, packing, mud and solid controls and mud logging, to achieve the very best performance.”
Carrying out drilling projects implementing its wide range of state-of-the-art rigs, made by leading OEMs such as National, IRI, Kremco and Drillmec to name a few, the company’s actual fleet consists of drilling and work over rigs with capacities ranging from 300 to 3000 horse power. Having this flexibility in its fleet allows the company to adjust its equipment cost effectively to meet the strict requirements of each of its clients.
The steady growth of OGEC JASŁO continued in 2011 with the finalisation of its acquisition of a new Drillmec 2000 HP drilling rig: “This complete and ready to work rig will make its arrival here in Poland in May 2012,” Wieslaw continues. “Upon delivery it will be primarily dedicated to the execution of deep drilling projects in the shale gas sector of Poland. This rig will be one of the most innovative on the market, one that possesses all the characteristics necessary to conform to the highest requirements of international operators.”
Another highlight for OGEC JASŁO in 2011 was the successful completion of an underground gas storage project for RWE Gas Storage in Tranovice, the Czech Republic. This particular project was of great importance for the company as it involved the use of many innovative, sometimes unconventional, technological solutions. A similarly interesting endeavor was its involvement in a deep drilling project that took place in the Carpathians, Poland. This project was especially complicated due to the difficulties associated with the sophisticated and complex geological structures that make up the Carpathian flysch. The company believes that the success of these projects, and all those that came before it, steams (partially) from the experience, skills, know-how and professional attitude of each and every member of its rig crews.
“These crew members are an essential ingredient in making OGEC JASŁO successful. Therefore it goes with saying that during the realisation of all drilling projects its top priorities will always be the health and safety of those people involved, as well as the minimising of the environmental impact of its operations,” Wieslaw enthuses. “The quality of the services provided as well as the highest standards of safety and natural protection are assured by the company’s management integrated system and its QHSE system, both of which are based on international ISO standards.”
The steady growth of the business has now led OGEC JASŁO to begin the process of stock listing, beginning with the changing of its legal status from a limited liability company to a publically limited company at the beginning of 2012: “Ultimately the goal of the company involves initiating an IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange,” Wieslaw reveals. “The foremost aim of this process is to gain financial assets to aid in the continuation of its investment plans, for instance the modernisation of its rig fleet. Further to this, the company has identified other benefits that this development will bring, such as increased exposure and better accountability.”
With several drilling projects successfully finalised in Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic over the last 18 months, the company considers that period of time as ‘rather positive’. Wieslaw’s attention now turns to OGEC JASŁO’s future: “We are a company that is always open to new challenges and will always keep an open mind when it comes to new co-operation proposals as we look to bring our services to new markets. It is our desire to achieve growth that enables the company to meet the highest international standards in everything it does.”
Equally as important to the future of OGEC JASŁO is its ability to meet the changing needs of the oil and gas industry and its customers. For example, the company has a great deal of belief in the development of the shale gas market in Poland and other European countries: “As the years go by OGEC JASŁO hopes to gain a significant foothold in this sector, yet in the meantime the priority is to be able to meet the demands of the highly competitive drilling market. In order to do this it will continue to invest in modern rigs, auxiliary equipment, drilling technologies, personnel and in its already first-class QHSE standards,” Wieslaw concludes.
Oil & Gas Exploration Co. JASŁO plc
Services: Drilling contractor