Geology wasn’t the number one choice for our Chief Geologist Serhii Ponomarenko. “I was searching for something,” he recalls. “Firstly, I studied at the naval school, then was going to join the air force – but failed.”
It was the influence of his elder brothers, who had studied geology before him, that led Serhii to attend Kyiv Geological Exploration Сollege. Fresh from graduation, he then went to the north of the Soviet Union where he started working in geophysics. Three years later, on returning home to Poltava region, he took up a role in a state oil and gas company and has remained in the sector ever since.
Serhii has been exploring hydrocarbons for more than 40 years. He took part in discovering and exploring more than 20 fields in the Dnipro-Donetsk basin, including Mekhedivsko-Golotovshchynske and Svyrydivske fields, where Enwell Energy is operating now.
He explains how the process of field discovery works: “Seismic works precede field discovery. Based on their results, the structures and conditions of hydrocarbon deposits are defined. Then the data are analysed and areas with the highest oil and gas probability are marked – and those are the well drilling locations.”
Today, however, discovering new fields is a rarity. Instead, Serhii’s working day includes well operation analysis using specialised software, preparing reports and proposals for adjusting operations, and discussing the results of analysis with colleagues. But the taste for mystery and discoveries is still with him. “The heart fills with joy when a drilled well produces the expected flowrate,” he says.
He remains optimistic about new discoveries and excited about his work. “From the surface to 5,000 metres we have seen everything. Now we want to go deeper,” he declares. “I’d like to discover oil and gas where nobody has ever discovered it before us.”