Russian Gazprom and Hungarian NIS to create joint company for oil extraction in Romania

Oil company NIS, controlled by Russian Gazprom, and the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL plan to create a mixed company in Romania for upstream activities, mainly extracting oil, according to NIS' GM, Kiril Kravchenko, quoted by Hungarian media. Kravchenko said oil and gas companies OMV and MOL are both partners and competitors, but both could serve as models for NIS to develop as a vertically integrated company, with upstream, downstream and energy management activities. “it is almost impossible to reach the same level of operations as these countries, because they are the biggest players in the South – Eastern European region, and are present in every sector. We want to do the same thing, which is why we are expanding our research and extraction activities in the Carpathian basin, Hungary, Romania and Bosnia – Herzegovina. We are considering expansion to other countries as well,” said the NIS GM. Last year NIS said it plans to have 120 gas stations in Romania by the end of 2014, and last year opened the first five, while two others are under work on the Bucharest – Pitesti highway. MOL has exploration rights for three perimeters in Romania, in partnership with Expert Petroleum. MOL runs 130 gas stations in Romania. editor@romania-insider.com