RSS
Minister Virgil Popescu: the offshore law will be amended in 2021
The amendment of the Offshore law will be made during this year, but the exploitation of gas in the Black Sea cannot start before 2024-225, according to the minister of energy, Virgil Popescu.
‘The exploitation of gas in the Black Sea cannot start before 2024-2025 if the decision for investments is made this year. What the operators in the Black Sea want is the amendment of the Offshore law so that it boosts investments and
we will do it, during this year, this amendment. But I said, and we agreed in the coalition, this will have to be done in the parliament’ the minister wrote on Facebook, on Wednesday.
The general manager of OMV Petrom,Christina Verchere stated last week, that it is necessary a period of 12 months to take a decision regarding investments in the gas project in the Black Sea, from the moment the offshore law is amended,so that the first gas can be extracted after four years.
At present, OMV Petrom and ExxonMobil are equal partners in the project for the exploitation of the deep-sea deposit Neptun in the Black Sea, estimated at 42-84 billion cubic metres gas. By comparison, Romania produces at present almost 10-11 billion cubic metres gas per year.
In 2019, Exxon announced their intention to withdraw from Romania, and the minister of energy, Virgil Popescu stated last autumn that Romgaz can take over the Exxon share.