Romania's OMV Petrom secures drilling rig for Neptun project

The group also signed a contract worth 140 million euro with Halliburton Romania for integrated drilling services, OMV Petrom said in a press release.

The Transocean Barents drilling rig is set to mobilise to the Black Sea in late 2024 and start drilling in 2025. The rig will drill ten wells, two at each of the Pelican South and Domino fields.

Halliburton Romania will provide integrated drilling services, including cementing, directional drilling, and well completions.

With these latest commitments, OMV Petrom and Romgaz are on track to safely deliver the first gas from Neptun Deep in 2027 and the project remains within the up to 4 billion euro guidance for total investment, OMV Petrom said.

In August, OMV Petrom signed a 1.6 billion euro deal with Saipem, an Italian multinational oilfield services company, and its Romanian unit for the development of the infrastructure of the Neptun Deep offshore gas project.

The Neptun Deep project is located within the Neptun Deep block in the Black Sea. The block includes an area of ​​7,500 sq km situated around 160 km from the shore. During the development phase, the project will supply an estimated total volume of around 100 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas.

($=0.928133 euro)