The founder of the Kirillitsa Group of Companies and CEO of Oil Resource, Semyon Garagul, spoke to Kommersant Dengi about the company’s proprietary innovations that enhance oil recovery from the Bazhenov suite.

— Kirillitsa Group positions itself as a strategic partner of the state in achieving technological leadership. How do you envision this goal?

— It’s more than just positioning. Our company’s strategy is aimed at ensuring the sovereignty of the Russian oil industry through domestic technical and technological solutions and infrastructure. We focus on investing in the country’s scientific potential, bringing together leading scientists, technology, and production within a unified framework. This is what makes us a unique partner for the state. We operate in line with the tasks set by the President of the country, developing our own scientific solutions — equipment and geological expertise — independently of foreign technologies.

By 2030, the oil and energy industries should become the driving force of Russia’s technological sovereignty. This means we face an ambitious task — not only to maintain Russia’s leadership in energy but to elevate the industry to a fundamentally new level.

— How do you assess the current state of Russia’s oil market under external restrictions?

— Despite the current global situation, Russia remains one of the world’s leading oil producers. Yes, there are embargoes on seaborne oil shipments, price caps, restrictions on investments and technological partnerships. These have changed the market landscape, but the industry is successfully adapting to these conditions.

The most significant challenge is access to technologies that will allow Russia to maintain and increase production. According to Russia’s Energy Strategy through 2050, the government’s target scenario is to maintain production at no less than 540 million tons per year. This will require significant investment in the development of hard-to-recover oil reserves.

Currently, more than 50% of the country’s resource base consists of hard-to-recover reserves. The share of such HTR will only grow, but extracting this oil using current technologies is often unprofitable. That is why breakthrough technologies are needed to develop these resources and to increase oil recovery at mature fields.

— How well is Russia currently equipped with tools for developing HTR?

— Current extraction technologies mainly include hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Other methods are required to develop hard-to-recover reserves. One of them is multifluid thermal technology (MTT). It is based on injecting water in a supercritical state into the reservoir.

In terms of efficiency, MTT significantly outperforms all other technologies that could potentially be used in the Bazhenov suite. While traditional methods yield no more than 3–5 kg of liquid hydrocarbons per 1 cubic meter of the Bazhenov suite — which makes profitability unfeasible — multifluid thermal technology, depending on the concentration of organic carbon in the reservoir, allows for the extraction of 40 to 100 kg of liquid hydrocarbons per cubic meter. This has been verified both in laboratory conditions and through hydrodynamic modeling. Moreover, this method is more environmentally friendly than multistage hydraulic fracturing. It doesn’t involve “dirty chemistry,” and the water used is significantly purer than drinking water.

MTT has also been highly praised by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak following the implementation of the federal project on HTR development.

With such technologies, we can boost oil production not only within Russia, but also worldwide. More than 19 countries have hard-to-recover reserves and may be interested in MTT. In fact, we are creating an entirely new sector — a new type of service. And this is no longer just import substitution, but import outpacing.

— Can we count on a positive economic outcome when developing hard-to-recover reserves under current conditions?

— According to our estimates, MTT, when applied to the Bazhenov suite, will be economically efficient at an oil price of $50–55 per barrel, with a profitability of 14%. It’s not only profitable — it can also ensure the Russian oil industry’s independence from foreign technologies and international oilfield services.

Just imagine: in the near future, MTT will make it possible to increase Russia’s technologically recoverable oil reserves by an amount comparable to that of the Samotlor and Romashkino fields. — According to the most conservative estimates, this technology will allow oil production in Russia to continue for at least another 30 years at the current pace. Analysts suggest that we may triple production compared to what has already been extracted.

— When could MTT begin to be applied in practice?

— The technology is fully patented in Russia, and we have also registered our development in the countries where we plan to operate in the future. In February 2025, we signed a cooperation agreement with the Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies at Kazan Federal University, which is conducting scientific work on the development of HTR. We have also established a technology center in St. Petersburg, where research scientists will engage in the production of MTT equipment. Essentially, we are helping to translate scientific research into real-world application. Pilot trials are planned to begin in the first half of next year. We expect to fully establish the oilfield service offering based on this technology by 2028.

— Are you already holding preliminary negotiations with potential customers? Are they showing interest?

— Yes, absolutely. We’re already discussing joint field pilot trials with Gazprom Neft, Tatneft, and other major companies.

— In March 2025, Oil Resource issued exchange bonds worth 2.5 billion rubles. The funds were intended for the development of innovative technologies and M&A deals. What projects are you referring to?

— We are building a foundation for decades to come. The innovations and investments of Kirillitsa represent economic stability and the creation of new jobs in high-tech industries. And MTT is just one of our areas of activity.

In addition to our research division, as a group of companies we’re also actively expanding our core business — the supply of oil, petroleum products and grain. For quality growth, it’s essential for us to build a robust logistics infrastructure. To this end, we have acquired two oil terminals in Orenburg Region and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO). These terminals enable the transshipment of up to 1 million tons of oil and petroleum products per year.

On the other hand, we also need to secure our raw material supply. For that, we are considering purchasing our own conventional hydrocarbon field.

— How can modern digital technologies assist in field development? Do you have plans in this area?

— The oil industry already utilizes artificial intelligence (AI), cloud technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) and 4D modeling. We can talk about so-called digital oil fields. Such technologies are our domain, and we intend to actively engage in their development. This summer, we expect to receive official status as a technology company.

— Is the role of the scientific community increasing in the oil and gas sector today?

— We are seeing demand from oil companies for the creation of a next-generation oilfield services industry — from geological exploration to refining — with a focus on AI, digitalization and robotics. I believe the role of the scientific community in this process is crucial.

That is why we work closely with Kazan Federal University (KFU) and Skoltech, and we are signing an agreement with the Institute of Oil and Gas Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences to collaborate on matrix oil in particular.

These are projects of national significance, and our solutions are already helping to strengthen energy security, boost oil production, and increase the country’s budget revenues.