Petrom considering new power plant after Black Sea gas discovery

Oil and gas company Petrom is considering building a new power plant with a similar capacity to the one at Brazi, based on the recent gas discovery in the Black Sea, said Carmencita Constantin, head of the energy and environment division with the Institute of Energy Studies and Design, quoted by Romanian media. Petrom invested EUR 500 million in its 860 MW gas-fired plant in Brazi, having started construction work on the plant in 2008. It is the largest private greenfield power generation project in Romania. The plant was not yet inaugurated after Petrom announced earlier this year a delay in its opening, initially scheduled for this year. Petrom recently discovered, together with Exxon, a natural gas reserve in Romania's Black Sea, some 84 billion cubic meters of gas in the Neptune perimeter. Petrom, majority owned by Austrian OMV, expects a new record profit this year, of some EUR 867.8 million (RON 3.784 billion), higher than last year- when expressed in local currency- even if its turnover is forecast to drop in 2012. The budgeted turnover for 2012 is of EUR 3.6 billion, down 4.6 percent on 2011. editor@romania-insider.com