State-controlled company Romgaz will borrow EUR 350 mln from a syndicate of banks to finance the purchase from Exxon of the 50% participation in the Neptun Deep offshore gas project carried out with OMV Petrom.

According to estimates, Romgaz should pay around close to EUR 1 bln for the 50% stake, Ziarul Financiar reported.

At the end of June, Romgaz had in its accounts liquid assets worth RON 3.2 bln (EUR 640 mln) in government securities and bank deposits.

Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said, at a meeting with a delegation of the Austrian group OMV led by the new CEO Alfred Stern on September 16, that the completion of ExxonMobil-Romgaz negotiations creates "encouraging premises" for the Neptun Deep project, the largest natural gas exploitation project in the Black Sea, to advance.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Adel Al Haddad)