October 23 (SeeNews) - Italian natural gas producer Gas Plus said on Tuesday its subsidiary Gas Plus International has reached agreement with Canada’s Sterling Resources to acquire a 15% working interest in the Romanian Midia and Pelican offshore blocks.
“The two blocks promise to be of high potential as evaluated by Gas Plus, and also indicated by the existence within the Midia licence of a gas deposit already discovered by previous operators and some producing oil fields nearby the Pelican licence,” Gas Plus general manager Marco Zanella said in a statement.
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“The new Romanian position represents a further step in the progression of our internationalisation strategy, in which East Europe is going to play an important role,” Zanella added.
To earn the working interest, which includes the Doina gas discovery, Gas Plus will pay a lump sum and fund a disproportionate share of the Midia-SE gas well, it said in the statement.
Completion of the deal is subject to approval of the Romanian Agency of Mineral Resources (NAMR) and will take effect in 2008.
Gas Plus International handles the international exploration and production activities of Gas Plus, whose international asset portfolio is made up of 14 exploration licences, comprising 10 in the UK, two onshore in Poland and two offshore Romania.
Gas Plus (www.gasplus.it ) has 38 gas concessions throughout Italy, it wholesales more than 600 million cubic metres of gas per year and operates, through joint ventures and subsidiaries, about 1.500 kilometres of gas distribution network, serving more than 100,000 end-user customers.