The gas reserves in the Black Sea are important for Romania but even more important for diversifying Europe’s supply sources, said Austrian group OMV’s CEO Reiner Seele in an interview with CNBC.

He made this statement after he was asked about OMV’s announcement that it would postpone making a decision on the Black Sea offshore gas project until next year. The OMV CEO previously expressed his discontent with the Romanian authorities’ decision to oblige investors to sell half of the Black Sea gas on the local market.

“I think the Government wants to create a framework that is sufficient for the investors. We have to wait for this. It takes too long,” Seele told CNBC.

He added that the group is currently assessing the new offshore law, which includes some elements that the investors can accept, but that they must see the final version promulgated before they can make a decision.

“This is gas which we need especially for Romania but even more for the European markets, to diversify our supplies. Therefore, there is a huge interest from the Romanian Government, from the investors and from the European Commission that we invest in this project,” he concluded.

editor@romania-insider.com