OMV Petrom has launched a new offshore drilling campaign in shallow waters in the Istria region of the Black Sea. Two new probes will be drilled by the end of the year with over 30 million euro worth of investment.

“We maintain our commitment to Romania and invest significant sums to ensure Romania’s energy needs. Istria, located in the shallow waters of the Black Sea, has over 30 years of history in oil and gas production. Although the deposits are mature and reached the peak of production years ago, sustained investment and the use of appropriate technical solutions allow us to unlock additional resources and compensate for the decline in production,” said Peter Zeilinger, OMV Petrom’s managing director for Upstream.

The two probes will be drilled at depths of over 2,000 meters below the seabed, in waters about 50 meters deep. The probes aim at supplementing production from Lebada Est (oil and associated gas), discovered in 1979.

This drilling campaign is a follow-up to investment projects for offshore offshore oil production in the Black Sea: more than 350 million euro were invested between 2014 and 2018, including the drilling of ten new wells and sidetracks, the modernization of the system gas compression and modernization of production facilities.

The exploration of the Romanian Black Sea continental shelf began in 1969. The first hydrocarbon discovery took place in 1980, and the first production at sea began in 1987. Currently, OMV Petrom has exploration, development and production operations at small depth (Istria) and exploration in partnership with ExxonMobil in deep sea (Neptun Deep).