New discovery in the Black Sea: Russian group Lukoil and Romania’s Romgaz hit large gas deposit

Russian oil&gas group Lukoil and Romanian gas producer Romgaz have found a large gas field in the Romanian Black Sea continental platform, in the Trident block, after drilling an exploratory well. According to preliminary estimations, the gas reserves could amount to some 30 billion cubic meters, which is the equivalent of Romania’s internal consumption for a three-year period. This is the second large gas discovery in the Black Sea after the one announced by American group Exxon and Romanian company OMV Petrom, in early 2012. “According to seismic data, the area of the gas field can reach up to 39 square kilometers, and the reserves can exceed 30 billion cubic meters of gas, which is to be confirmed during evaluation drilling,” Romgaz said in a report published on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). State-owned Romgaz holds a 10% share in the project while Russia group Lukoil has the majority stake of 72% and is the Trident block. American group PanAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. Holds the remaining 18%. “The success of the Lira-1X well will reduce the risk for further exploration on a series of prospective sites with significant potential reserves, located both close to the Lira structure and in other parts of the block,” the Romgaz statement reads. The program of future works planned for 2016 includes drilling an exploration well at the Lira and the reprocessing of seismic data to confirm the size of the discovery and precise assessment of its potential hydrocarbon reserves, according to Romgaz. The water depth within the block ranges from 300 to 1,200 meters. The block has an area of over 1,000 sqkm. The Lira-1X well is located about 170 km away from the coast, where the depth of the sea is about 700 meters. The well was drilled to a depth of 2,700 meters from the semi-submersible drilling rig TransOcean Development Driller II. The well was temporarily abandoned for further evaluation of the Lira gas discovery. editor@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)