August 3 (SeeNews) - Romania's top oil and gas group OMV Petrom [BSE:SNP] said on Thursday that the Neptun Deep offshore gas project it develops in collaboration with natural gas producer Romgaz [BSE:SNG] is entering the development phase after it received regulatory approval.
The development phase includes the execution of drilling activities and construction of the infrastructure necessary for the extraction of natural gas, with the first production estimated for 2027, OMV Petrom said in a press release.
OMV Petrom and Romgaz will invest up to 4 billion euro ($4.37 billion) in the project’s development phase, which will enable some 100 bcm of natural gas to be brought on stream, it added.
The infrastructure will consist of ten wells, three subsea production systems and associated flow lines pipelines, an offshore platform, the main natural gas pipeline to Tuzla and a natural gas metering station.
OMV Petrom and Romgaz each hold 50% participatory interest in the project, with the former being also the project's operator.
The Neptun Deep block in the Black Sea has an area of 7,500 sq km and is located at about 160 km from the shore. Since 2008, seismic acquisition campaigns and exploration drilling programs have been carried out at the site. Once production will reach the plateau stage, Neptun Deep will output 8 billion cu m of gas for almost ten years.
OMV Petrom's shares changed hands 1.55% lower at 0.539 lei ($0.11/0.10 euro) as at 1501 CET on Thursday on the Bucharest bourse.
Romgaz shares traded 1.81% lower at 40.65 lei ($9.32/8.53 euro) as of 1502 CET.
(1 euro=4.94320 lei)
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