The drilling will be done on onshore blocks ‘all over Romania’, which means Petrom is still investing onshore, even though its focus is on the Black Sea exploration.
The auction organized by the largest hydrocarbon producer in the region is a breath of fresh air for the companies in the industry, badly hurt by the slashing of the budgets of the major oil companies due to the plummeting of the oil price. Brent oil is down almost 50% on last year, at around $50.
Petrom is looking for seven to 15 operators to share a two-year framework contract worth $9 million at least and $120.9 million at most. It will not reveal the exact location of the blocks until the signing of the contract.
OMV Petrom, which built its 2015 budget on a $50 to $60 price, cut investments by 30% to EUR1 billion compared with last year. Petrom shares lost 27% in the past twelve months, reaching 0.33 lei (EUR0.07), a three-year low.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)