What's in store for Drilling in 2025?
The year 2025 brings many new challenges and projects for our companies MND Drilling & Services and MND Germany, both domestically and abroad. The current strategy is focused on strengthening our position in the industry and achieving ambitious targets for rig and crew utilization in accordance with high HSEQ (Health, Safety, Environment, and Quality) standards.
During the course of this year, we will be focusing on several major projects for existing and new clients in the oil & gas and geothermal sectors.
In the Czech Republic, our company will continue to meet the demand of our parent company MND, a. s. and execute all drilling, POS and P&A projects for this major client throughout the year. In parallel, work will also be carried out for external customers such as Lama Oil or Gas Storage CZ.
Foreign markets
Our heaviest rig, the BENTEC 450, after a three-month break during which a five-year inspection was carried out, will continue its long-term project to drill deep wells in Hungary until at least the end of the year for customer TDE. This contract has been running since last year and Crew 8 has already drilled two deep wells in Hungary with this rig. A further two to three deep wells are planned for 2025 with an expected extension into next year.
Another heavy rig, the BENTEC 350, was upgraded to 418 tonnes last year and will drill two deep wells in Hungary for a new client, JKX/Riverside Energy, instead of the planned project in the Netherlands (which will not take place due to lack of permits on the operator's side). Following the completion of this project, the rig will then be moved to Slovakia at the end of the summer to start a unique project to drill three deep geothermal wells for client Geoterm Košice. This project will also continue into next year.
The medium rig BENTEC 250 is currently drilling a short well in the domestic market for our parent company MND, a. s. After a short break, it is also planned to be used in foreign markets such as France, Germany, Turkey and Croatia.
The lightweight and mobile MD 150 is one of our busiest rigs. It is currently drilling for our major customer Vermilion in Germany, from where it will move back to the Czech Republic. After a planned overhaul, it has secured projects for the rest of the year.
Since about the middle of last year, its smaller sister rig, the MD 80, has also been busy on an old well disposal project in Berlin, which runs until mid-April. The rig is operated by employees of our sister company MND Germany. The MD 80 rig is expected to start a long-term project to dispose of dozens of wells in Germany for Neptune starting this summer.
MND Germany also operates the Rig-40 rig, which will complete another long-term drilling and abandonment campaign for Harbour Energy this year. This project is expected to be completed during the summer and a two-month break is planned for maintenance and upgrades to parts of the rig after completion. This will be followed by its other projects in Europe.
The year 2025 will be a year of challenges and opportunities for our company. Thanks to our ambitious plans and scheduled projects, we are ready to make the most of all our rigs and strengthen our market position, even though we are still facing a shortage of qualified personnel. We are looking forward to working with all our existing clients as well as new projects and challenges this year.
Radovan Jedlička
Other articles
The Lužice complex following renovation
The second part of Karel Komárek’s two-day visit took him to the refurbished MND Drilling and Services site in Lužice. The project, involving an investment of 250 million crowns, not only saw the restoration of the site, which had been devastated by a tornado, but also its fundamental modernisation — from new operational areas and a central park to a comprehensive rainwater management system.
Košice as a springboard: MND sets its sights on further geothermal projects
The completion of the boreholes near Košice shows that deep geothermal energy can serve as a stable source of energy even in Central Europe. At the same time, however, it raises questions about where this type of project makes sense and how quickly it can be scaled up. Radovan Jedlička, Head of Business Development at MND Drilling & Services, discusses the potential, limitations and further opportunities.
