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Oil and gas explorations of ADX Energy are proceeding successfully
According to the press release sent to ACTMedia, ADX Energy, the operator of the „Par?a“- concession for the conventional exploration of oil and natural gas in the Timi?oara area, reports on the positive
developments of the initial geological and geophysical exploration activities. Since the 1960s it is a known fact that in the Timi?oara area oil and natural gas can be discovered. In November 2012 ADX Energy, a publicly traded Austrian- Australian company, received from the Romanian state the concession, meaning the exclusive right and the binding obligation, to search for oil and gas in this
area. The contract was ratified by the Romanian Parliament and the Prime Minister – thus ADX Energy must carry out the promised prospecting activities and investments, since otherwise severe penalties will apply.
Contrary to wrongly published information, ADX Energy does not search for shale gas and has no concession right for any shale gas activities. Moreover, in the concession area, which extends from Timi?oara in the east to Jimbolia in the west, there is simply no shale gas potential at all, as is confirmed by Romanian and international experts and published scientific literature. There is absolutely no shale gas potential in Banat! The modern exploration tools used are used to find
conventional oil and gas and thermal water.
Interview with Paul Fink, July 2014
Paul Fink, graduate of the Austrian Mining University of Leoben, with many years of industry experience in countries such as Austria, Libya, Tunisia, Italy, England, Australia, Pakistan and India, is Technical Director of the Austro-Australian company ADX Energy and Administrator of the Romanian subsidiary ADX Panonia SRL with its headquarters in Bucharest, is answering some questions.
Is this the only project ADX Energy currently has in Romania?
We started to work in Romania with the "Par?a" concession we have obtained from the Romanian State through a European Union bidding process. We also have so called “prospecting permits” in various parts of Romania outside the Banat which allow us to do studies without immediately having the obligation in front of the Romanian state to immediately invest several million Euros like we did and are obliged to do in Par?a. Further concessions - of course - are always interesting for us. We will keep you informed if there are any decisions made, but it depends of course on the state of Romania and the investment climate!
Does ADX Energy plan to bid for other concessions in Romania?
Yes, of course! The investment climate and respective legislation in Romania is encouraging capital investment, the bidding processes for concessions are in line with the European Union regulations and have been open, efficient and transparent in the last bidding round. So, in general we are encouraged from past experience and remain optimistic. It is occasionally only on the local level that some people think Romanian state law or European regulations can be completely ignored and that the modern technology will never reach their land. Except EU agriculture subsidies of course, if it is allowed to add that comment for the sake of completeness.
What have the explorations of the Par?a concessions revealed so far and when do you expect to start the exploitation of conventional oil and gas resources in Romania?
The new technology we are using, such as the high resolution three dimensional acoustic imaging, shows us more and overlooked potential oil and gas reservoirs in the Banat area - compared with the data which were existing from earlier explorations, which essentially stopped in the mid eighties. Our local Romanian contractor has used the latest leading edge technology and delivered fantastic data and images of what is a few thousand meters below the surface! The easier and faster we can realize our phase 1 (seismic and other exploration methods) with the three dimensional acoustic imaging, the clearer the results will be and we can start with phase 2 (exploration drilling) and phase 3 (oil or maybe also gas production). After the first phase with 3D seismic, we come into the second phase with the
exploration drilling -everything is depending on these two results how we will proceed further.
What is the investment of your company in the Romanian economy?
Until the present period we have invested several million Euros in Romania, and this only for the first phase for obtaining the concession from the Romanian state, the purchase and analysis of existing data and the first new geophysical data acquisition on site, for which the State receives revenue at the start of the production. Where possible, we will always opt for Romanian companies, which support us in the implementation of our works as sub-contractors and can also meet our quality, quality assurance and environmental protection requirements. And this should actually always be the case in Romania, since Romania is a country with a long tradition of oil and gas. Actually it was an industry technology
leader in many aspects of the oil & gas industry prior to the communist period similar to what the Silicon Valley is today for the IT industry. In my opinion, Romania should be able to benefit for many years to come from its natural resources of oil and natural gas even without taking into consideration the potential of shale gas in the east of the country.
When we come to the next phase and we carry out our drilling, investments will of course jump much higher, these investments being also associated with high tax revenue and additional jobs which require usually significantly higher technical qualifications and hence are much better paid than let’s say in
agriculture.. Depending on the results of the exploration phase, our expenditures can reach something in the order of 100 million Euros over the first 5 years.
Raising the funds for a good oil or gas development project is however the easy part, the main issue we face is to give confidence to our investors that Romania is a country which welcomes and supports oil and gas activities and hence operations can be conducted in a fast and cost efficient manner in line with the Romanian and EU laws and regulations.