Carlyle To Start Seismic Off Romania
Dolphin Geophysical said May 18 it has agreed to provide 3-D seismic acquisition and processing for Carlyle Group’s Black Sea Oil & Gas and its partners. Surveying is due to start shortly offshore the Romanian coast of the Black Sea, said Dolphin which is owned by Norway's GC Rieber Shipping. The job will utilize the 16 streamer vessel Polar Marquis, towing a high resolution multi-streamer configuration.
Carlyle Group completed its $42.5mn acquisition of Midia Resources from Canada’s Sterling Resources in August 2015. The subsidiary, renamed Black Sea Oil & Gas, has net 2C resources of 51mn boe and net prospective resources of 375mn boe. It has stakes in blocks 13 (Pelican), 15 (Midia) and 25 (Luceafarul) – covering 5,000 km2 (gross) and including the small Ana, Doina, Luceafarul and Eugenia gas finds and other prospects.
Romania’s Black Sea is seen as promising for future gas production, especially from Neptun Deep. In 2012 OMV and ExxonMobil, based on the Domino-1 well in their Neptun Deep block, estimated a gas accumulation of 1.5 to 3 trillion ft3 (42bn to 84bn m3). OMV’s subsidiary Petrom is operator, with Exxon an equal 50% partner. In 2013 OMV assessed that Neptun might produce 6.5bn m3/yr. First production is not expected before 2020.
On May 11 in its 1Q 2016 results, OMV said that Petrom this January completed its second exploratory drilling campaign in Neptun Deep, with seven wells finalized, most encountering gas. Further interpretation was required. it said, but results so far were “sufficiently encouraging to progress more detailed work to determine if a development is commercially viable.”
Mark Smedley