The Romanian government wants gas extraction from the Neptun Deep offshore field to begin by 2025 and is preparing a proposal to amend the offshore law, said on Thursday Dan Dragoş Drăgan, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment.

The official said that the ministry will come up with a proposal to amend the offshore law, which will be submitted to the Parliament in December, information that was first revealed a month ago by another state secretary from the institution, Niculae Havrileţ .

“The aim of this legislative proposal will be to remove a number of obstacles that block investment in the Black Sea and we need to do this as soon as possible (…) What is wanted is to create a framework for investors who exploit gas to have a business continuity that leads to positive decisions,” Drăgan was quoted as saying by Agerpres.

According to him, the exploitation of the Black Sea gas is an important goal of the ministry and he specified that Romgaz is currently considering entering the Neptun Deep project, together with Petrom.

“At this moment Romgaz is evaluating the possibility of participating together with Petrom, the final decision will be taken next year. Our wish is for this operation to start by 2025 and to have a positive impact on the Romanian gas market in the coming years,” the ministerial official also said.

All this will lead to an accentuated development of the gas market, to the transparency of transactions and the stimulation of competition, Dragan added.