Bulgaria has signed a five-year agreement with the oil group Royal Dutch Shell for exploration of oil and gas in an area located in the Bulgarian Black Sea waters, according to Reuters. The concession round for two offshore areas, Teres and Silistar, was launched last year.

The license allows exploratory drilling in the Silistar play, with an area of 7,000 square kilometers. Costs are estimated at around 18.6 million euros.

“The license we earned allows us to evaluate the potential for the natural oil and gas of one offshore perimeter within the Bulgarian territorial waters. This process can be quite long and uncertain”, said Eileen Wilkinson, regional director of Shell International Exploration and Production.

Also, the consortium formed by Total, OMV and Repsol plans to start the exploration for oil and gas at Khan Asparuh block, inside Bulgarian territorial waters of the Black Sea until June, writes Agerpres.

In the offshore segment in Romania, OMV Petrom announced the ending for the drilling campaign in the Black Sea, the largest ever conducted in the region: 7 wells drilled, with very promising results in order to continue evaluation of the commercial viability. Final investment decision could be taken in the next two years.