The Black Sea has the potential to become a major player in the European gas market, but companies with deep pockets are needed to extract gas, given the high risk and high investment needed, said Peter Zeilinger, senior vice president for exploration, production and development within OMV, the parent company of OMV Petrom.

“What is necessary for the Black Sea region to become a major player in the oil and gas industry? Predictability. The discovery of Tuna (from Turkey) clearly showed the potential of the region, we saw the discovery in Bulgaria, Neptun Deep (Romania), so the potential is there and is untapped, with only 100 wells dug in the Black Sea, compared to more than 5,000 wells in the continental shelf of Norway,” he said, according to Agerpres.

The OMV official stressed that the risk is very high, and a well dug today will not produce gas tomorrow, but in 10 years.

“With the uncertainties about the political climate, maybe the road will be even longer, so you need wide pockets to support development, given that it takes 10-15 years from discovery to the first gas,” he said.

Zeilinger said he sees attractive tax terms in Bulgaria and Georgia.

“After the start of production, there are 30 years of production, so we are talking about a period of 40 years and for that you need attractive and predictable taxation. We must take into account the example in Norway, where the license terms are guaranteed for the entire license period, irrespective of the changes in legislation. In any case, in Norway, the conditions for attracting more investment have improved recently, during the Covid period, with increasing competition,” said the head of the oil company.

The support of both the government and the community is needed, he added.