Page 9 - EurOil Week 14 2021

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Romgaz is sole bidder for ExxonMobil

stake in Neptun Deep

ROMANIA ROMANIA’S state-owned gas company Romgaz the Romanian state-owned company would
has emerged as the only bidder for the 50% stake be given the leading role in the project for
Romgaz confirmed in the Neptun Deep offshore gas block held by political reasons — to gain the support of the
placing a binding offer US major ExxonMobil, reported Ziarul Finan- Social Democrat opposition that is in princi-
on April 1. ciar daily. ple more supportive of state-owned, national
Romgaz confirmed placing a binding offer enterprises.
for the interest in the 84bn-cubic metre field on Energy Minister Virgil Popescu recently
April 1, conditional on the approval of its share- stated that Romgaz could manage the project.
holders. ExxonMobil wants to exit Romania as However, some experts have expressed
part of a staged withdrawal from the European concerns about the pace of development of the
upstream sector., having recently agreed to sell project should Romgaz would take over as the
a package of Norwegian assets to Neo Energy. operator.
The US major’s partner at Neptun Deep is Aus- “It is very important to see who will be the
tro-Romanian firm OMV Petrom. operator of the whole project. ExxonMobil
While a deal between ExxonMobil and clearly had the experience to manage the invest-
Romgaz looks increasingly likely, it remains ment. With the Americans, Neptun Deep could
unclear which of the two partners will manage have been completed within three years after
the projec as operator. Romgaz should, in prin- making an investment decision. However,
ciple, “inherit” the role from Exxon, but some Romgaz’s experience is related to onshore pro-
question its experience in offshore projects. duction, which could raise certain problems,”
Sources familiar with the deal hinted that said people familiar with the project. ™
PERFORMANCE

Ithaca dips to $400mn

loss on impairments

UK NORTH Sea-focused Ithaca Energy slumped to Ithaca was founded in 2004 and was shortly
a $400mn loss in 2020, compared with a $15mn listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was
Ithaca reported adding loss in 2019, despite booking nearly $1.2bn in taken under private control by its biggest share-
35mn barrels of turnover, up from $584mn in the previous year. holder, Israeli group Delek, in 2017, and was sub-
oil equivalent to its The company blamed the deepened loss sequently listed on the Tel Aviv exchange.
contingent resources on $492mn in impairment charges incurred On the upside, Ithaca reported adding 35mn
during the year. because of weaker oil and gas prices. This more barrels of oil equivalent (boe) to its contingent
than offset a growth in revenues, which came on resources in 2020, from the discovery of the Isa-
the back of a surge in production to 66,400 bar- bella gas field by Total in March that year, and the
rels of oil equivalent per day, from 8,600 boepd gain of the Marigold/Yeoman licence. Ithaca has
a year earlier. Ithaca gained from the takeover a 10% stake in Isabella and acquired a stake in
of Chevron’s North Sea operations in 2019 for the Yeoman licence from Total in February 2020.
$2bn. Ithaca is reportedly in the running to acquire
The Aberdeen-based company’s average a package of North Sea assets from BP. The UK
realised oil price was meanwhile only $44 per major is fielding final bids for its stake in the
barrel in 2020, down from $66 in the previous Royal Dutch Shell-operated Shearwater hub
year. It managed to shrink its net debt to $1.2bn and its operated Andrew asset, Bloomberg
at the end of 2020, versus $1.5bn a year before, reported in mid-March. Others vying for the
and reported $745mn in EBITDAX, including a assets include Tailwind Energy, Serica Energy,
$373mn gain from hedging. EnQuest and Waldorf Production. ™

Week 14 08•April•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9