Drilling starts on Romanian Black Sea offshore gas project that challenges Russia
ROMANIA-ENERGY/OFFSHORE (PIX):Drilling starts on Romanian Black Sea offshore gas project that challenges Russia
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Offshore project to double Romanian gas production from 2027
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Romanian gas consumption seen up 25% per year to 2030
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But analyst still expects small exportable surplus
By Luiza Ilie
BUCHAREST, - Drilling at Romania's Neptun Deep offshore gas project began in the Black Sea on Sunday, its owners said on Tuesday, putting one of the EU's largest gas deposits on track for production in 2027 that could help ease the shift from Russian gas.
Jointly owned by oil and gas group OMV Petrom and Romania's state-owned Romgaz, Neptun Deep holds an estimated 100 billion cubic meters of recoverable gas. OMV Petrom is majority-controlled by Austria's OMV.
Neptun Deep will double Romania's gas production and likely turn it into a net exporter, the energy ministry has said, at a time when the European Union is weaning itself off Russian gas.
While the project could help diversify gas supply in central and eastern Europe, it is unclear how much of the new gas will be available for export as Romania's domestic consumption is set to increase while its onshore reserves fall.
Romania produces a little over 9 billion cubic metres per year currently and its consumption is just under 10 billion. But consumption will rise as 3.5 gigawatts-worth of gas-fired power plants are expected to come online by 2030 and phase out coal.
The energy ministry estimates annual gas consumption will rise by 25% on average during 2025-2030 from 2023 levels, Sorin Elisei, a general director at the ministry in charge of energy strategy, told Reuters.
"On the other hand, we estimate a rise of at least 75% of domestic production from 2027, meaning there will be quantities available for exports, meeting a strategic objective of Romania becoming a provider of energy security in the region," he said.
Eugenia Gusilov, an energy analyst at Romania Energy Center, said the local market could not absorb all the expected new gas, adding the potential export surplus could be "at least four billion cubic metres, if not five."
"These are not big volumes, but any billion cubic metre of gas matters to efforts to diversify supply in this part of Europe."
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