May 23 (SeeNews) - Romania's top oil and gas group OMV Petrom [BSE:SNP] said on Thursday it has signed a 5 million euro ($5.6 million) contract with local company GSP Offshore for the decommissioning of the Gloria offshore platform.
The platform has reached the end of its economic lifetime limit after more than 40 years in service, OMV Petrom said in a statement.
The decommissioning is a complex process, which will be undertaken for the first time in Romania, and consists in reinstating the platform jacking system, positioning the Gloria platform on a cargo barge and transporting it to the shore.
”The Gloria platform has made its full contribution to ensuring Romania's energy supply. Its cumulated production over the last 20 years is equivalent to over 20 million car refuels and the energy for heating 170,000 homes," OMV Petrom executive board member responsible for upstream operations, Peter Zeilinger, said.
Zeilinger added that OMV Petrom will continue to operate the other six offshore production platforms, which provide over 16% of the group's output.
The company decided to decommission Gloria in 2018. Later in the same year, a tender was launched for the removal services which was won by GSP Offshore. The company provides offshore integrated services for the oil and gas industry and operates an extensive and diversified fleet including eight mobile offshore drilling rigs.
The Gloria platform is the first offshore drilling platform in Romania.It was commissioned in 1976 and was built based on a license from Offshore Co., USA. Since 1998, the Gloria platform has been in its current location, approximately 30 km from the shore, in water depths of around 40 meters and was used as a production platform. Current production is some 200 barrels per day, or less than 0.15% of OMV Petrom's total output.
Shares of blue-chip OMV Petrom traded 0.28% higher at 0.36 lei as at 1459 CET on Thursday on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
($=0.8982 euro)