OMV Petrom makes oil discovery in Black Sea

Newsroom 16/07/2014 | 12:10

Austria’s oil major OMV Petrom has announced on Wednesday that one of its exploration wells has found oil near the Romanian coast.

The exploration well was drilled 60km from shore in the Istria perimeter to a depth of around 2,150 meters below the seabed. First estimates show that the production per well in this block stands at 1,500 – 2000 boe/day.

“The Black Sea is an important area for OMV Petrom, an area which continues to have potential for new discoveries. Currently, production from shallow waters accounts for 18 percent of the company’s hydrocarbons production in Romania,” said Gabriel Selischi, member of the OMV Petrom executive board, responsible for exploration and production.

The company has invested EUR 19 million in the exploration well called Marina 1 and will need to invest over EUR 100 million in the coming years to build the infrastructure and start production.

OMV Petrom said that production in this field could begin in the next 3-4 years, provided that it is commercially viable.

At present, the company is looking for hydrocarbon resources in several perimeters in the Black Sea. In early 2012 OMV Petrom had announced it found a gas deposit in the Neptun Deep Perimeter, estimated to contain between 42-84 bcm. The extraction of Black Sea gas could start around 2020.

Ovidiu Posirca