Iryna Protsiv was born and raised in Ivano-Frankivsk. After school she entered the local University of Oil and Gas, majoring in oil and gas production. 

Interestingly, initially Irina did not plan a technical profession at all. She was well versed in foreign languages, participated in Olympiads and thought about philology. But shortly before joining, she changed her mind. 

"I then thought: a technical specialty, is a technical specialty. And I have never regretted this choice. Now, I understand that working only with papers or translations, perhaps, would not be mine," says Iryna. 

After defending her diploma, she worked as an assistant at the Department of Subsoil Hydro Mechanics for another year. After that, she came to work at UKRNAFTA. First, she went to a research institute, where she worked as an engineer in the field development control department.  

Later, around 2007, Iryna moved to the Field Development Department. There she was engaged in development projects, an area that requires attention to data, understanding processes in the reservoir, and the ability to see not only an individual well, but the entire field production system. 

In early 2023, after a long period of remote work, constant blackouts and a sense of professional stagnation, Iryna decided to take a break. She quit and went to Canada. She lived and worked there for about half a year. 

This experience was a way for her to reboot and test herself in new conditions. "I tested myself out of my comfort zone. When everything is set up and familiar, you move by inertia. And when you need to make out-of-the-box decisions, it organises and pushes you forward a lot," says Irina. 

At the same time, her family remained in Ukraine, and Iryna returned. In October 2023, she re-joined UKRNAFTA as a field development manager in the Oil Recovery Enhancement Division. 

This was a new division that was just being formed. Iryna was one of the first to join the team. The first months were not easy: a lot of new tasks, different areas of work, not fully formed processes, and a constant feeling that you need to quickly understand everything at the same time. 

"It was difficult. For three or four months, I didn't fully understand what was going on. But gradually everything worked out," she recalls. 

Today Iryna is engaged in the analysis of reservoir pressure maintenance systems. To put it plainly, her work is related to making field operations more efficient and longer. When oil is produced from the reservoir, the pressure changes. To maintain it and increase oil production, injection wells are used. Water can be pumped into the reservoir through them or other technological solutions can be used. 

Iryna analyses the injection wells, studies how reservoir pressure maintenance systems work, which methods can yield the best result, and how these solutions affect production. In her work, there are many technical details, calculations, comparisons, and responsibility for solutions that have a practical impact on production. 

One of the areas that the team is working on is the introduction of new methods for oil recovery enhancement, such as flow-deflecting methods in injection wells. According to Iryna, the Company has not used such approaches before, but now they are already showing good results. 

The new job gave her the exact movement she was missing. Iryna says that in her first year in the new division, she learned more new things than in many previous years in a more familiar rhythm. 

"Everything here is changing quickly and dynamically. It is impossible not to keep in good shape. I stopped being afraid of new challenges and realised that if one tries hard, one can do what they need," she says. 

Outside of work, Iryna also chooses movement. Together with her husband, she loves long-distance cycling and interesting routes. For example, they can go from Ivano-Frankivsk to Lviv for coffee. This is about 130-140 kilometres one way. They return by train. 

Mountains is another important part of her life. Iryna likes hiking, spending the night in a tent, rivers, places where there are fewer people, and routes that allow combining physical activity and space for silence.  

The first serious trip was especially memorable. It was the Montenegrin mountain range. Before the trip, Iryna fell off her bike, but still went. During the hike, the group was well covered by heavy rain, and the test was not an easy one. It was after the hike that she realised that she would go back to the mountains. Since then, she has been trying to go to the mountains at least several times a season.