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Gazprom and MOL want to set up a joint company in Romania to extract oil
The Serbian oil company NIS controlled by Gazprom and the Hungarian group MOL intend to set up a joint company in Romania for upstream activities, of oil extraction, the NIS general manager Kiril Kravchenko said quoted by Mediafax.In an interview offered to the Hungarian magazine Figyelo, Kravchenko said that OMV and MOL could serve as models for NIS as regards the development as an integrated vertical oil group, with upstream activities, downstream and energy management.
“It is almost impossible to reach the level of operations of these companies as they are the biggest players in South-East Europe and they are present in every sector. We want the same thing, that is why we extend our research and extraction activities in the Carpathian area, Hungary, Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. We take into consideration the extension in other countries” the NIS general manager said.
Last year NIS announced that they wanted to develop a network of 120 oil stations in Romania before the end of 2014. The company owned at the end of last year in Romania 5 oil stations, in Sibiu, Arad and Bihor. This year NIS started the works in other two oil stations under the name of Gazprom situated on the highway Bucuresti-Pitesti, at 59 Km, according to ZF.
MOL won in 2010 exploitation certificate for theree areas in the western part of Romania, in partnership with Expert Petroleum, where the Hungarian group owns 70% of the rights. In 2011, the two companies signed with the National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM) concession agreements for the three areas.
MOL is present on the fuel market in Romania through a network of approximately 130 oil stations.
Romania imported from the Russian group Gazprom through go-betweens, almost 20% of the necessary quantity of gas, at prices three times higher than the gas extracted domestically.
In 2011, the Canadian company East West Petroleum signed an agreement with NIS for the exploitation of four oil blocks in the western part of Romania, in Bihor and Timis counties.According to the agreement NIS had to finance the works, including the drilling ones, with 85%of the commercial rights.