Page 11 - Euroil Week 01 2020

EurOil INVESTMENT EurOil
OMV Petrom transfers 40 onshore fields to private firm
ROMANIA
AUSTRO-ROMANIAN energy group OMV Petrom has reached an agreement to transfer 40 onshore oil and gas fields in southern Romania to local private firm Dacian Petroleum.
The fields produced 1,700 barrels of oil equiv- alent per day, or some 1% of OMV Petrom’s total output.
The business transfer agreement is part of OMV Petrom’s upstream portfolio optimisation programme, aimed at streamlining operations to focus on its core and most profitable fields, the company said.
Dacian Petroleum plans to extend the lifecy- cle of the 40 fields, which are considered mar- ginal for OMV Petrom. Under the agreement, OMV Petrom will also transfer wells and related oil and gas infrastructure, together with approx- imately 190 employees.
The transfer of rights and obligations under the concession agreements is subject to approval
by the relevant authorities, pursuant to the Oil Law.
Dacian Petroleum was selected to take the fields according to the best international prac- tices, OMV Petrom said. The process spanned over 30 months and several operating compa- nies from Romania and abroad participated in it.
Dacian Petroleum is, according to informa- tion published in January last year by Profit.ro, a company established by three former direc- tors of US oil equipment firm Wheaterford and a former former of Petrom, prior to its sale to Austria’s OMV, Ion Popa. Later, according to the same source, a fifth shareholder joined the com- pany, Romania’s Rotary Petroleum, owned and managed by Leonardo Craciun. Craciun was the owner and general manager of Lotus Petrol, with oil and gas extraction activities in the Valcea area in southern Romania. ™
Exxon confirms Romanian exit
ROMANIA
This is the first time ExxonMobil has acknowledged the sale.
EXXONMOBI has confirmed plans to divest from the offshore Neptun Deep gas project it is developing with Austro-Romanian partner OMV Petrom.
Neptune Deep holds 84bn cubic metres of gas, but its development has been mired with delays over Romania’s tax regime and regulations.
Exxon spokesman Todd Spitler told Reuters on January 8 that no buyer had been identified for the US major’s 50% stake in Neptun Deep, and no agreements reached.
While talks continue, Exxon plans “to con- tinue to perform [its] role as operator in advanc- ing the project., including continuing to pursue permits.”
Reports in the local media emerged last year that Exxon was eyeing a sale at Neptun Deep. The US major later announced plans to quit Europe’s upstream sector altogether.
Sources told G4Media this was that one of the
companies interest in buying into Neptun Deep was Russia’s Lukoil. The US company sent an official letter to selected bidders, inviting them to submit offers in November.
Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has stated that Romania would prefer a “serious partner [...] from within Romania’s partnerships — the European Union and Nato.” He stressed that there is another bid, which the Romanian PM seemed to favour, namely a partnership formed by OMV Petrom, Romgaz and another unnamed company.
Another interested company is Polish state-controlled oil company PGNiG, according to G4Media.ro’s information.
Lukoil also operates the Trident Black Sea gas field, in partnership with Romgaz. Preliminary data revealed gas resources estimated at 30bn cubic metres. In November last year Lukoil received permission to start drilling from the Romanian offshore authority (ACROPO). ™
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