Companies such as Gazprom, Chevron and OMV Petrom (SNP.RO) are requesting a new auction for the blocks.
“(The ANRM) will hold a new auction to issue permits on blocks in the Black Sea and on land. (…) We have requests for a new auction from companies such as Petrom, Romgaz, Hunt Oil, Chevron and Gazprom,” the authority’s president Alexandru Patruti told MEDIAFAX.
The latest auction held by ANRM took place in 2010, but the agreements need government approval to come into force.
According to Patruti, the government needs to approve 14 agreements.
“There were no such agreements approved between 2008-2011,” Patruti added, mentioning that each agreement requires approval from six ministries, and any change in government causes a restart in the process.
In 2010, the ANRM auctioned off 30 blocks, with a total surface of 30,000 square kilometers, in west and southeast Romania as well as on the continental plateau.