American oil and gas company Chevron has agreed to make Romanian contracts public, which should be published on the National Mineral Resources Agency website (ANRM), said Romania's Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu.

The Romanian Government had previously asked Chevron to make public the contracts for exploiting shale gas in the Barlad and Constanta counties in Romania.

At the end of March, the Romanian Government approved three concession agreements for exploration, development and exploitation of shale gas, between The National Agency for Mineral Resources and Chevron, the second largest oil group in the USA. The agreements were for the areas Vama Veche, Adamclisi and Costinesti, in Constanta county, on Romania’s seaside.

At the beginning of April, Tom Holst, Chevron manager for Romania, said in a TV show that he has nothing against the agreement to publicize the contracts for the three perimeters. He also said that the decision to keep the contract terms confidential came from the Romanian state and not from Chevron. The Romanian Government pointed out keeping contract terms confidential is required by law, but they can be made public if both sides agree.

After a couple of days of heated exchanges in the Romanian media, which reported on Chevron’s upcoming shale gas activities in Romania, the US group issued a statement saying it will only use conventional technology for exploration in Vaslui county this year and that it is not planning any drilling in Constanta county.

editor@romania-insider.com