Canadian Sterling Resources wants to sell all its drilling rights in Romania's Black Sea, awaits Govt OK for ongoing deal

Canadian oil and gas company Sterling Resources, which owns several exploration licenses in Romania, plans to sell them in 2014. “The Company intends to proceed with a sell-down of its equity interests in all of its Romanian Black Sea licences during 2014,”according to its announcement. Meanwhile, Sterling continues to move forward to close the sale and purchase agreement with ExxonMobil and OMV Petrom for the sale of the 65 percent interest in a portion of block 15 Midia in the Romanian Black Sea, which was originally announced in October 2012. The company plans to cash in some USD 30 million when this deal is closed, with further contingent payments linked to future success on the portion of the block sold. The sale is not yet closed, as it is pending approval from the Romanian Government, which is 'actively being sought, '' according to the company. Sterling owns the exploration rights to the blocks Midia and Pelican in the Black Sea, and owns participations in the perimeters Muridava and Luceafarul. Non-operated drilling of an exploration well on the Muridava block is expected to start around the end of November and may take up to two months to complete, according to the company. Interpretation of the 2D-seismic that was shot over the Midia and Pelican blocks continues, as does preparation for the Luceafarul block 3D-seismic shoot in late November 2013. “The 2012 drilling results from the Ioana and Eugenia exploration wells on the Midia and Pelican blocks continue to be reviewed and further 3D-seismic is planned to be acquired during 2014 based upon this analysis,” the company's report reads. OMV Petrom and ExxonMobil last year announced a significant natural gas discovery in the Black Sea, with estimations pointing out to 42 to 84 billion cubic meters, which is three to six times Romania's annual consumption. Sterling Resources runs operations in the UK, France and the Netherlands, apart from Romania, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In Romania, it has won the rights to drill in certain perimeters in the Black Sea following a tender organized by the National Agency for Mineral Resources. editor@romania-insider.com