Petrom, ExxonMobil Sign Deal To Explore Black Sea Offshore In Romania

The Black Sea Neptun Block covers an area of approximately 9,900 square kilometers in water depths ranging from 50 m-1,700m while the joint exploration work will focus on the deep water parts of the block and an extensive seismic work program is planned for 2009.

Petrom will operate the initial exploration work including geologic and seismic studies in the deep water while ExxonMobil will fund the majority of the work program and provide expertise in evaluating the deepwater seismic data.

"This co-venture with ExxonMobil is an important step for Petrom to explore the hydrocarbon potential in the Black Sea. The deep water of the Black Sea has not yet been explored in Romania and also rarely in other parts of the Black Sea," stated Johann Pleininger, Petrom Executive Board Member responsible for Exploration and Production.

Petrom is currently operating two Black Sea offshore blocks covering an area of 13,800 sq km, with four producing fields while one field is under development. The current offshore production is approximately 31,000 boe/day, which represents 26% of Petrom’s total production.

ExxonMobil is a global company with an industry-leading inventory of discovered oil and gas resources, a strong portfolio of proprietary technology and substantial growth opportunities. The corporation’s resource base is 72 bn boe and it has more than 100 major new development projects and global gas and power marketing activities underway.

Petrom is Romania’s only oil producer and alongside gas producer Romgaz Medias, covers some 2/3 of the country’s natural gas demand, totaling 18 billion cubic meters.

Petrom reported a net profit of 2.29 billion lei (EUR1=RON3.8090) in the first nine months of the year, up 48% compared with RON1.548 billion in the same period a year earlier.

The company reported a net turnover of RON13.007 billion in the first nine months, up 50% compared with RON8.672 billion in the year-earlier period.

Austria’s group OMV owns the majority stake in Petrom.