An IT guy who goes to the vineyard to clear his head

In June, colleagues used a unique method at the Krumvíř 3 well - for the first time in the history of MND, a thermal isolation method using a bismuth-tin alloy was applied. And as it turned out, it not only works, but has the potential to solve a whole range of technical challenges. The first deployment took place in challenging conditions that conventional methods would have found difficult to handle - or even at all.

This report brings you the first part of the interesting winemakers who work in our group. We start in Čejkovice, where father and son, Jiří and Petr Št'avík, cultivate their lines. Petr works in MND as the head of the mechanical department and Jiří is the manager of the Dambořice storage facility.

During the day he looks underground and works on dynamic models of bearings, after work he takes his camera and looks up at the stars. In his spare time, MND bearing engineer Milan Pagáč is an astrophotographer. He combines two hobbies: photography and his interest in space observation, which has been with him since childhood. His pictures are well known to many MND employees - they have appeared in the calendars of Drilling, where Milan's wife also works.

The last drilling here was in the summer of 2023. While the frogs were croaking then, now, at the end of winter, there are plenty of hares and deer roaming the surrounding fields. And in the evenings, beavers are regularly seen cupitating in the adjacent Burnt Creek.

The drilling and subsequent disposal of the probe is a fascinating process that can be likened to the life cycle from birth to death. Every well, whether exploratory or production, has its own life story. Repot is now bringing you a series that will present interesting reclamations of our specific sites one by one. But in this issue, let's talk in general terms about what such reclamation looks like, why it's done in the first place, and how much it actually costs.

Last year Pavel Kratochvíl participated as a geologist from Hodonín in 3D seismic measurements on the Zukivska licence in the Poltava region in eastern Ukraine. In the interview he describes his experiences from the trip and the specifics of working in the area crossed by missiles.

MND Ukraine consists of a group of several companies. Today the main company in Ukraine is the company Horyzonty. MND Ukraine owns exploration and production rights from a total of eight licenses covering an aggregate area of almost 400 square kilometres and with a daily production of 500,000 cubic metres. MND's activities are currently managed by 59 colleagues.

For next year, our geologists have prepared a series of wells that they have identified based on the latest large 3D seismic survey. The campaign will start in the second half of the year in the Dubňany and Skoronic area. During December, however, work will begin on the last well of the season - Mikulov 3.

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become one of the most discussed technological phenomena. For a long time now, it has not only been discussed in the context of science fiction films or scientific research institutes. Thanks to increasingly powerful computing and the availability of data, AI technologies have seen a huge boom in recent months. AI is now making real inroads into all aspects of our lives, from work to healthcare, science, education and entertainment.

Horizons (a subsidiary of MND Ukraine) is working on two licenses in western Ukraine, with the Tynivskaya license now ramping up and very promising. The first exploration well has exceeded expectations. Once the necessary infrastructure is completed, it will start producing gas. Horizons has seen production decline in the war years, but this trend should now reverse.

The deepest borehole in the Czech Republic in the last 30 years has received considerable media attention. Representatives of newspapers, TV and radio stations went to the area around Krumvír in South Moravia, where Bentec 350 is working. MND arranged an excursion for them to show their readers, viewers and listeners what it is like to work on a borehole that goes more than four kilometres underground.

The Borkovany 8 well site is quite densely populated with technology. The Bentec 350 rig is complemented by five trestles, one gas-producing production cross and other infrastructure. For a number of years now, the Borkovany deposit has been in production, and well number 8 will continue to do so. The expected reserves have been confirmed.