OMV Petrom Completes Takeover of Bulgarian Find
Romania's OMV Petrom has completed the takeover of its Austrian parent company OMV's stake in the Han Asparuh block in Bulgaria's section of the Black Sea, it said on September 1.
France's Total operates Han Asparuh with a 57.1% stake, while OMV Petrom now has 42.9%. Spain's Repsol formerly had 30%, but transferred its shares to its partners in June. The group was awarded rights to the block in 2012 and sank their first well there three years later, resulting in an oil discovery. They have since drilled two more there.
Han Asparuh borders the Neptun Deep block in Romanian waters, where OMV Petrom is looking to develop a 84bn m3 gas discovery. It is partnered at Neptun Deep with ExxonMobil, but the US major is seeking to divest as part of plans to withdraw from Europe's upstream sector completely.
"This acquisition is an important step in our strategy to expand our upstream operations in the region," OMV Petrom said. "OMV Petrom has been active in the Black Sea for over four decades as operator and has gained valuable deep water experience as non-operator in the adjacent Neptun Deep licence in Romania."
Han Asparuh is 13,819 km2 in size, with water depths exceeding 2,000 m. Earlier this year Total and its partners completed a 5,614-km2 3D seismic survey. The data is being processed and future exploration activities will be planned based on results.
OMV Petrom is also in talks to explore a Black Sea block off Georgia, having won a tender in June.