International companies line up for Romania oil concession - see who is on the list
Some of these companies have joined hands into consortia Exxon Mobil with Petrom and Romgaz, Lukoil Overseas and Vanco International, Melrose Resources with Petromar Resources, Petrom and Romgaz for offshore resources.
Chevron and Total have filed offers for three land sites in Dobrogea, near Vama Veche, Costinesti, Adamclisi, while Mol, together with Expert Petroleum submitted offers for three land sites in the Western part of Romania. Petro Ventures was the only company to submit offers for an offshore site close to the Black Sea coast.
This is the first time Romania is organizing a bid for the concession of offshore sites. It is also the first time Romania's gas company Romgaz enters the oil segment.
The winners will be announced in July and the oil extraction agreements will be signed in February 2011. The most important criteria will be the investment program, together with the technical and financial power, the environment impact and staff training programs. Exploration may vary between 3 and 10 years and the winning companies will have to pay fees between 7 and 13.5 percent of their production for the offshore sites, while for land sites, between 3.5 and 13,5 percent of the production. The contracts will be signed for 30 years but the companies may end the contracts after the exploration phase, if they fail to find oil.