Growing Interest in Downstream, Upstream Investments in South East Europe

Over the last hours, several companies renewed their interests for investments in Romania and Bulgaria in both downstream and upstream segments.

ExxonMobil is reportedly preparing to submit its offer for Bulgaria’s Teres and Silistra perimeters. The deadline of the auction for the 5-year licence is September 2015. Similarly, after Statoil, also US-headquartered Andarko voiced its interest for deepwater oil and gas exploration in Bulgaria’s Black Sea.

Meanwhile, Italy’s Enel reported an announcement of the Romanian Energy Ministry, according to which the Milan-based company was the one that invested the most in Romania’s energy sector. 

“The future of Enel is in networks digitalisation: it is what the country needs and it is perfectly consistent with our business strategies at the Group level” Toni Volpe, Enel Country Manager in Romania, commented in a note released on Tuesday. 

Last month, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Serbian Heads of State launched the Craiova Group on Friday, committing to increased cooperation on energy and transportation projects with an eye towards integration, following on the footsteps of the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia).