Page 16 - EurOil Week 03 2021

EurOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES EurOil

OMV Petrom drills off Romania

ROMANIA AUSTRO-ROMANIAN oil firm OMV Petrom cubic metre gas discovery at the Neptun Deep
has kicked off a new drilling campaign offshore block in the Romanian Black Sea. But the project
The two wells will be Romania, the company reported on January 18. has been on hold since Romania’s government
drilled at the Istria The company, part-owned by Austrian oil introduced a controversial offshore law in late
block. producer OMV, started drilling a new devel- 2018 imposing extra tax and sales restrictions
opment well in December at the Istria block in on gas producers.
the Black Sea, and will begin work on a second Despite these difficulties, the company is
early this year. The cost of the campaign is €32mn doubling down on its Black Sea operations.
($39mn). It earlier this year acquired a 43% stake in the
“Using modern technical solutions, we seek to Han Asparuh block in Bulgarian waters adja-
unlock additional resources that can compensate cent to Neptun Deep from its parent OMV.
for the decline of the domestic production from An oil discovery was made at the Total-op-
mature fields,” OMV Petrom’s board member erated site in 2015, and OMV Petrom’s move
in charge of upstream, Chris Veit, commented. appears aimed at improving Neptun Deep’s
“The Black Sea has a strategic importance for economic case by adding more resources to
Romania’s gas production, which currently the project.
covers almost 10% of the country’s annual gas OMV Petrom also won a contest in June to
consumption.” explore a 5,282-square km area offshore Georgia,
The two wells will be drilled to depths of over and began negotiations for a production-sharing
2,500 metres below the seabed, in waters around agreement (PSA) for the site in October. Unlike
60 metres deep. OMV Petrom invested some Bulgaria and Romania, Georgia is yet to make
€500mn on Black Sea development between any oil and gas finds in the Black Sea.
2014 and 2019, it said, during which time it sunk To hone its international focus, OMV Petrom
16 exploration and production wells. also agreed to sell its oilfields in Kazakhstan in
OMV Petrom’s flagship project is an 84bn December. ™

NEWS IN BRIEF
NIS and Janaf agree crude of petroleum products, as well as the where its presence has been weaker or
realisation of projects in the fields of
inexistent so far in terms of points of sale,”
oil transport contract petrochemistry and energy. Petrol said in a bourse filing.
With over 200 points of sale, the market
Zagreb-based Janaf manages an oil
Serbian oil and gas company Naftna pipeline and storage system.. share of the Petrol Group in Croatia will
industrija Srbije (NIS) has concluded a increase to 23% from 13%. In the Southeast
contract on crude oil transport for the period Europe region, the Petrol Group will operate
from January 1 to December 31, 2021, Slovenia’s Petrol acquires 601 points of sale.
with Croatia’s Jadranski naftovod (Janaf), Crodux Derivati Dva employs more than
announced Janaf. Croatia’s Crodux Derivati Dva 1,150 people and operates 91 service stations.
NIS reserved Janaf’s transportation In 2019, the company’s sales revenues totaled
capacities for 2021 according to a take-or-pay Slovenian energy company Petrol signed €760mn, while its net profit amounted to
principle in the amount of 2.75mn +/- 10% a contract to acquire 100% of Croatian €19.3mn.
crude oil tonnes. petroleum products trader Crodux Derivati
“We express the content that we signed Dva, Petrol said on January 15.
the contract with our long-term business k a review of its approach in late 2020. OMV Petrom reports some
partner NIS, and we consider this new This review was concluded at the end of the
contract as a good introduction to a year. 7% y/y drop in output and
new business year. The business success Petrol did not disclose the value of the
is reflected in achieving stable and safe transaction, but according to Croatian media sales for Q4
revenues, and significant new business the value of the deal is over €200mn.
activities are always a good announcement The acquisition of Crodux Derivati Dva Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom
for achieving the company’s growth and is the largest transaction by Petrol in the last reduced its total hydrocarbon production by
development. Moreover, the conclusion 10 years. 7.6% y/y to 140,200 barrels of oil equivalent
of new deals represents the basis for Petrol said that the deal was signed on (boe) per day in 4Q20. The output in Q4 was
optimistic expectations related to the January 12. The seller is businessman Ivan also 0.8% lower than in the previous quarter,
economic recovery after the crisis caused Cermak. The transaction will be completed according to the group’s key operational
by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Janaf after approvals by relevant competition indicators released on January 14.
management in a statment. authorities. The total volume of hydrocarbon sales
NIS is the largest contributor to the As a result of the transactions Petrol was 133,300 boe per day, (-6.8% y/y, steady
budget in Serbia. Its main activities Group will acquire 91 service stations from q/q), of which crude oil and condensate sales
consist of exploration, production and the Croatian company. amounted to 70,400 boe per day (-6.4%),
refining of oil and natural gas, sales “The acquisition will enable Petrol to while the natural gas sales also dropped, by
and distribution of a wide assortment establish itself in certain key parts of Croatia, 7.4% y/y, to 62,900 boe per day.

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