October 27 (SeeNews) - Romanian natural gas producer Romgaz [BSE:SNG] said it has reached an agreement for the acquisition of the 50% stake that ExxonMobil holds in Black Sea offshore project Neptun Deep and expects to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2022.
As part of the agreement, Romgaz is buying 100% of ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Holdings (EMEPRL), it said in a statement filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
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EMEPRL holds half of the rights and obligations under the concession agreement for petroleum exploration, development and production in XIX Neptun Deep Block, the other half is held by Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom [BSE:SNP].
This agreement will be signed after it is endorsed by the Romgaz board of directors and approved by the company's extraordinary general shareholders meeting.
In June, Romgaz signed an exclusivity agreement related to the negotiations for the acquisition, after submitted a binding offer in April.
Also in April, OMV Petrom said that if ExxonMobil accepts the offer submitted by Romgaz, it will join in the project as operator.
At the beginning of October, Romgaz announced it is seeking a 1.6 billion lei ($375 million/ 323 million euro) bank credit to finance the dea and cover its current working capital needs.
OMV Petrom entered a joint venture with ExxonMobil for exploration of the Neptun Block in 2008. The block covers an area of some 7,500 square kilometers in water depths ranging from 100 to 1,700 meters, according to information posted on OMV Petrom's website.
Neptun Deep would be the second offshore gas project in the Black Sea, in which Romgaz would have a participation if it buys a stake in it. Romgaz already holds 12.2% interest in offshore joint venture exploration perimeter EX Trident, according to information available on the company's website. Lukoil Overseas Atash BV, a subsidiary of Russia's Lukoil, holds the remaining 87.8% interest.
Romgaz shares traded 1.99% higher at 38.5 lei on the Bucharest Stock Exchange as at 0948 CET on Wednesday.
OMV Petrom's shares changed hands 0.51% higher at 0.49 lei as at 0945 CET on Wednesday.
(1 euro= 4.9476 euro)
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