The US oil group ExxonMobile hasn't informed the Romanian authorities about its intentions with the 50% stake it holds in the Neptun Deep offshore perimeter, prime minister Ludovic Orban said at B1 TV on November 8.

"We are not sure, we will see what their decision will be. As far as we are concerned, [the natural gas transport system operator] Transgaz is contracting works for the construction of the pipeline that connects Podisor and Tuzla, to connect the [Neptun Deep] gas field to BRUA. We support all these projects. They are critical projects that bring important revenues to Romania, which provide Romania with an essential gas resource, which we intend to use," said prime minister Orban, quoted by News.ro.

Less than one week earlier, economy and energy minister Virgil Popescu confirmed a plan sketched by the Government by which Romanian state-controlled gas producer Romgaz plans to purchase from ExxonMobile the 50% stake in the Neptun Deep offshore gas perimeter.

Exxon's partner in the Neptun Deep project is local oil and gas group OMV Petrom, controlled by Austrian group OMV.

Neptun Deep is the biggest offshore gas project in the Romanian Black Sea in terms of potential gas reserves - between 40 and 80 billion cubic meters.

(Photo: Gov.ro)

andrei@romania-insider.com