VILNIUS - Geonafta, Lithuania's oil producer, is planning to drill an exploratory well near Telsiai this autumn but is putting on hold its plans to expand into Russia and Kazakhstan.
"Early this autumn, we intend to drill an exploratory well in the district of Telsiai, which will cost us 3 million litas (800,000 euros). If we are lucky, we can expect (to find) 400,000 cubic meters of oil in this deposit," said Geonafta production director Kestutis Ivanauskas.
However, the company is shelving its plans to invest in oil production in Russia and Kazakhstan.
"Our expansion plans in these countries have been put on hold due to a sharp increase in prices of facilities offered for sale at auctions, but we continue to watch the situation in the market," Ivanauskas said.
He added that the company did not have any new plans yet.
Geonafta posted a profit of 25.8 million litas last year. It holds 50 percent stakes in other Lithuanian oil production companies, Minijos Nafta, Genciu Nafta and Manifoldas.
Lithuanian oil production has been on the decline in recent years, falling 28.5 percent last year to 216,600 tons.
