Transgaz Mediaş, the national gas transmission operator, stated through its managing director that it has investment programs amounting to EUR 860 million in order to take over in the pipes, the gas that will be produced in the Black Sea. He stated that, the level of the investments could be increased by other EUR 600 million according to the level of reserves that can be commercially extracted.
Economica.net came into the possession of some information prior to these statements, stating that Transgaz must make investments of EUR 1 billion in order to connect the Black Sea with the national transmission system and with the external markets. According to the economic news website stated above, “EUR 657 million will be used for the execution of the gas transmission main line from Constanţa to Bucharest, and then towards the rest of the country and West, through Arad-Szeged pipe”.
Other financing decisions for projects that Petrom or other players might take depend on the transmission infrastructure from the coast, particularly that the production from the continental platform is estimated to begin between 2018- 2020. Unofficial sources of information reminded that Petrom strengthens its negotiation through the fact that there is a small possibility, that the gas produced in the Black Sea to be transmitted to the export through the system of Bulgaria.
Petrom and Exxon Mobil assume that reserves of about 84 billion cubic meters of gas exist off the Romanian coasts. The Romanian state must build the coast infrastructure in terms of the license granted Petrom-Exxon, the offshore part being the responsibility of the consortium.
“The offshore part is ours, the onshore part is the responsibility of the Romanian authorities. We are currently at the stage for the confirmation of the volumes, we will continue the assessment activity. Based on them, we will hold detailed discussions with the authorities and with the transmission operator, to see what are the transmission opportunities for those volumes that will be exploited.”, stated Mariana Gheorghe, CEO Petrom, on this topic.
The construction of the transmission infrastructure from the Black Sea coast becomes a priority the more so as the investments continue at a quick pace and at significant magnitudes to determine if the resources that lie beneath the sea can be extracted with an added value.
“Exxon invested until now $ 500 million in Romania and will invest at least this sum, before taking the decision to exploit gas commercially in the Black Sea”, stated John L. Knapp, CEO Exxon Mobil Romania. Only the drilling carried out in the Neptun block, chartered together with Petrom cost $ 1 million a day.
Translated by: Silktrans