Business news

MINSK, 1 February (BelTA) – Belarus has oil reserves enough to last for another 35 years, Sergei Mamchik, the director of the geology department at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus, said in a press conference at BelTA’s press center on 1 February.

“The main task is not just to maintain the current oil production at some 1.6 million tonnes per year, but even to increase it,” the specialist stressed. To secure an increase in oil production, Belarus will launch new geological exploration activities and start commercial development of new oil deposits, including the hard-to-access ones. “The established oil reserves growth target is around 600,000 tonnes per year. In 2016, the target was exceeded by 24.7%,” Sergei Mamchik pointed out.

A total of 82 oil deposits have been discovered in Belarus. Sixty-two of them are currently exploited. Work is underway to find new deposits and study those that have already been discovered, including with the help of innovative technology.

Sergei Mamchik noted that in 2016, Belarus adopted an action plan for increasing the production of mineral resources for the period until 2020. The plan provides for increasing the degree of exploration of the country’s geological resources and satisfying the demand of the national economy for mineral resources. Among many other measures, the document envisages works to discover and develop oil deposits.