Black Sea gas is a huge opportunity for Romania, but it will not be forever, and at the moment, the project is politically blocked, said on Tuesday, Christina Verchere, CEO of OMV Petrom, at the Energy Strategy Summit.
“We must be aware that this is an extraordinary opportunity for Romania, but that it will not remain so forever. And, given that the energy transition is getting closer, in the context of capitalizing on the price of natural gas, we must we realize that there comes a time when this is the most valuable thing for Romania and for the Romanian state,” said the representative of the energy company.
According to her, everyone is looking for competitive energy sources to fight climate change.
“But we see problems in terms of stocks, there is an excess supply of energy in the world, both in terms of fossil fuels and renewable energy. And there is competition in the market. Therefore, Romania needs to be competitive. So this is the reason for our statement, which has been very well thought out. This does not last forever, we must act. And I believe that the project is stuck due to the political system,” added Verchere.
She added that the business community wants to work with the authorities to amend the Offshore Law so that Black Sea projects are unlocked.
“If not, Romania’s gas imports could reach 40% by 2030,” warned the head of OMV Petrom.
OMV Petrom and ExxonMobil are equal partners in the Black Sea Deep Neptune Deep Exploration Project, estimated at 42 to 84 billion cubic meters of gas. In comparison, Romania currently produces about 10-11 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Last year, ExxonMobil announced its intention to withdraw from Romania.
OMV Petrom representatives said that gas extraction from the Neptune Deep perimeter will become uncertain if the Offshore Law is not amended.
The Minister of Economy, Energy and Business Environment, Virgil Popescu, has repeatedly stated since last autumn that the legislation in the offshore oil sector will have to be approved in Parliament by political consensus, and the Government will have no initiative in this sense, according to Agerpres.