WASHINGTON, U.S., March 10. GL Group is interested in expanding oil and gas operations in Azerbaijan and beyond, Gilbert Beuhler, Senior Vice-President for Technical Functions and International Operations at GL Group, told Trend on the sidelines of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Trade and Business Conference, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC) in Washington D.C.
“We’re always interested in expansion everywhere we operate, that includes Azerbaijan. We’re very optimistic about the future of the Azerbaijan oil and gas business, and we will be a successful part of that,” Beuhler said.
He outlined the company’s strategy in the region: “We do intend to, first, keep expanding and growing our existing assets. Second, look for additional acquisition opportunities. And third, of course, do this across the board, not only in Azerbaijan, but regionally.”
Beuhler highlighted the role of technology in GL Group’s operations. “I talked a little bit about the importance of field digitization, the digital oil field. That’s allowing us to optimize our activity targets, our drilling targets, and that means every well is more efficient,” he said.
The company has implemented advanced modeling and drilling techniques. “We have built 3D geologic models, 3D reservoir models on everything that we operate, and we’re using that to drive our activity plan. That’s a fundamental shift in technology that we’re doing. Second is we are improving drilling technology. We’re doing directional drilling. We’re doing things like oil-based mud, things that are less damaging to the reservoir. By that I mean increased productivity of the reservoir, and we’re seeing increased well rates that have historically never been achieved.”
Beuhler described the company’s approach as a “crawl, walk, run” journey. “What we’re doing is a part of the technology curve. We are currently doing things that help decrease reservoir decline, stabilize production, and then form as the basis to increase production. And just an example of that, we drilled a recent well that has multiple production rates than anything that’s been drilled in the field in three years.”
He concluded: “What we want to do is be part of successful increasing of production of oil and gas in Azerbaijan. And we feel we’re not only a part of that, but we’ll continue to be a larger part of that.”