Oil deposits in western Romania, part of NIS Petrol’s strategic plan

The conventional oil deposits in western Romania became part of the strategic development of Serbian NIS Petrol. Company representatives recently stated that the Romanian-Serbian border area will experience a great economic development if prospecting will certify the expectations related to the oil deposits, reports local Capital. They also gave assurances that the company is not looking for shale gas, stating that geologists argued that the Banat area in the western part of Romania sits on an area poor in reserves of shale gas, and “the company doesn’t want to invest a lot of money in searching for possible shale gas”. "Increasing production capacity

as a result of

significant investment

in upgrading

refinery

in Pancevo

(Serbia

)

represents the main reason for our interest

in

oil

perimeters

in western Romania

,

situated near the

border with

Serbia

," said Vadim Smirnov, general manager of NIS Petrol Romania, cited by Capital. NIS Petrol is part of NIS, majority owned by Gazprom. NIS has two refineries, in Pancevo and in Novi Sad. It produces around 1.7 million toe of oil and gas a year. The

Serbian company

operates

500

gas stations and

a network of

crude oil storage facilities

in

Bosnia

and Herzegovina

, Bulgaria, Hungary and

Romania

, Turkmenistan, Angola, Belgium

and Russia.