March 20 (SeeNews) - Oil and gas exploration company Serinus Energy said on Friday that its production operations across Romania have not been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to the outbreak, the company has instituted increased health monitoring of operations staff in Romania and increased cleaning and disinfecting of operational workstations and staff hygiene protocols, it said in a press release.
The company has also implemented medical checks on its field staff, while the gas plant is being routinely disinfected.
However, due to uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on travel and services in Romania and specifically in Satu Mare county, the company has postponed giving the order to carry out the mobilization of heavy equipment and personnel in the Berveni area, just north of the Moftinu gas plant.
No standby fees nor mobilization costs will be incurred at this stage, as they are only triggered once 100% mobilization of equipment and personnel at the field has been achieved, Serinus explained.
The company had to take this decision after Romania's government banned gatherings of morethan 50 people, which would hinder the ability of Serinus' 100-person team to carry out the programme safely and efficiently.
The Moftinu gas project, which started production in April 2019, has been operating as expected. Routine maintenance is expected to be carried out on the gas plant, commencing around May 4, 2020.
The Moftinu gas field, discovered by Serinus in 2014, is the catalyst for future, self-funded, growth in the Satu Mare concession, the company says. Satu Mare is a 729,000 acre exploration block which is 60% owned and operated by Winstar Satu Mare SRL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Serinus.
Serinus is an international upstream oil and gas exploration and production company with a diversified portfolio of projects in Tunisia and Romania.