ExxonMobil and OMV Petrom to start drilling in the Black Sea

In early July, the American- based company ExxonMobil Exploration and Production in Romania and OMV Petrom, part of the Austrian OMV Petrom group, jointly announced the beginning of drilling in deep water of the Neptun block in the Romanian part of the Black Sea, where the two companies had discovered gas in 2012, according to Agerpres

2014-08-09 00:19:03 - From the Print Edition

The new drill called Domino-2 is located about 200 kilometres offshore, in water depth of about 800 meters. The data collected during the drilling program will be used to assess the size and the commercial viability of the gas deposit discovered by the Domino-1 exploration drill in 2012, according to the release by both companies.
"We are committed to investing significantly in the exploration, development and production of hydrocarbons in order to provide domestic resources of oil and gas to Romania," said Gabriel Selischi, OMV Petrom Executive Board member, responsible for Exploration and Production, quoted by Hotnews. "We will use our 40 years of experience in the shallow waters of the Black Sea to contribute to the success of a pioneering project and Neptune Deep," he added.
Both companies announced in February 2012 that they had made a significant gas discovery based on the Domino-1 drill, preliminary estimates placing the deposit of natural gas at 42-84 billion cubic meters. ExxonMobil and OMV Petrom hold 50 per cent each of the deep water Neptun block, after signing a mutual agreement in which ExxonMobil has acquired a 50 per cent stake in the deep water block. Petrom has said several times that the extraction of gas in the Black Sea is planned for the end of the decade.