OMV Petrom and Romgaz have reached an informal agreement on the exploration of the Black Sea gas extraction project. Petrom will be conducting the exploration operations if Romgaz succeeds in replacing the American company ExxonMobil in the project, government sources told Economedia.ro.
On Tuesday, March 30, Romgaz submitted a binding offer to take over the Romanian subsidiary of ExxonMobil, a company that holds a 50% stake in the Neptun Deep project for the exploration of natural gas in the Black Sea, according to a company announcement published on the Stock Exchange. The value of the offer has not been disclosed, and it is not clear if ExxonMobil has received any other offers.
The role of project operator is an essential one, and Romgaz had wanted to take over the operations part of the project, but in the end, the two companies came to the agreement that OMV Petrom has more experience in exploration and production activities, sources told Economedia.ro.
Offshore upstream activities (exploration and production of oil and gas) are extremely complex in comparison to on-land operations. Romgaz has no experience in this type of exploration, and while Petrom is involved in such projects in Bulgaria, and more recently in Greece, int doesn’t have prior experience per see.
The company running the exploration activities is de facto leading the project, like preparing the site for drilling activities, logistics, and all types of other interventions.
Translated by: O.H.