OMV Petrom Pens Georgian PSA
OMV Petrom, the Romanian arm of Austrian oil group OMV, has signed a production-sharing agreement (PSA) to explore Block II in Georgia's sector of the Black Sea, nearly nine months after winning a tender for the project.
The PSA covers 5,282 km2 with water depths of 400-2,000 metres. OMV Petrom will set up an operating company in Georgia and undertake geoscientific and environmental studies at the site this year, in preparation for a large 3D seismic shoot in 2022, to evaluate the block's potential.
"We believe that the Black Sea has a high potential for the upstream sector and with our operating experience of over 40 years in the Romanian offshore area we have a competitive advantage in evaluating the opportunities of this basin," OMV Petrom CEO Christina Verchere said in a statement.
OMV Petrom already produces oil and gas in the Romanian Black Sea. It is also hoping to develop the 84bn-m3 Neptun Deep gas discovery there, but has delayed sanctioning the project because of extra taxes and sales restrictions imposed on gas producers by Romanian authorities in 2018.
The company also entered the Bulgarian Black Sea last year, and has indicated it may work with Naftogaz to explore Ukrainian waters as well.
Georgia today produces only very small volumes of oil and gas, all of it onshore. But the government is looking to encourage offshore exploration, in the hope of making similar discoveries to those found off the Black Sea's other littoral states. Turkey announced a major find in its sector last year.