Last December, Tidewater Cyprus Limited was awarded a $52.23 million contract for assistance vessels for a drilling program in the Black Sea, and a $17.67 million contract for anchor handling tug supply vessels.
Grup Servicii Petroliere, controlled by businessman Gabriel Comanescu, was also awarded a $13.65 million contract for sea transport services.
The company also awarded two contracts to US oil services firm Schlumberger Ltd. for exploration and drilling works in the Black Sea. The contracts, worth a total $80.2 million, were signed in April and May, respectively, following negotiations. Both contracts were awarded for a two-year period.
ExxonMobil’s local affiliate and Romanian dominant oil company OMV Petrom (SNP. RO) operate together several blocks in the Romanian sector of the Black Sea.
In 2012, the two companies have announced a significant gas discovery in the Neptune Black Sea block, which could yield as much as 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year, equal to almost half of Romania’s annual consumption.