“We have no such guarantees now; we are talking billions worth of investments here. We did submit our proposals to the authorities (which we cannot reveal) and are waiting to talk.”
Briton Christina Verchere, who is also an US citizen, took the reins of OMV Petrom a year ago, which has been extremely challenging time, full of surprises.
The Petrom/Exxon consortium, which has already invested $1.5 billion in exploration, has not announced how valuable the natural gas deposits in the Black Sea are yet.
It does, however, have a clear picture of what is there, says Christina Verchere, adding the project is extremely valuable, enough to require attention from the US-held Exxon, the second most valuable energy company in the world.
It the Black Sea gas project economic or political? Basically, it is a business project, but supplying energy is a geopolitical issue everywhere in the world, the executive said. Romania is at a crossroads, it has this Black Sea opportunity, when demand for natural gas is on the rise, exploiting it will bring Romania economic advantages, but if these investments are not made now, its energy future will be challenging, Romania will have to import gas, Christina Verchere added.
Demand for natural gas is not high enough in Romania (only half of the households are connected to the gas supply network i.e.) for the Black Sea deposits so other markets are considered, as well. Investments in petrochemical plants in Romania (this is new) are being considered, too, Verchere says, but no decision has been made yet.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)