Petroceltic, registered in Ireland, also conducts exploration, production and development operations in Algeria, Egypt, Bulgaria and Italy.
Petroceltic said Tuesday that on June 12, Midia Resources SRL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sterling Resources, transferred its 40% interest in Block 27 Muridava to Petroceltic Romania, a wholly owned subsidiary of Petroceltic. It also said that Beach Petroleum, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beach Energy, also transferred its 30% interest in Block 28 Est Cobalcescu to Petroceltic Romania.
The interest transfers have been approved by Romania’s National Agency for Mineral Resources.
Simultaneously, Petroceltic has sold the entire share capital of Petroceltic Romania (which holds the interests in the Company’s two licences in Romania, Block 27 Muridava and Block 28 Est Cobalcescu) to GVC Investment, a private limited company which has considerable oil and gas assets in the area.
Following these transactions, Petroceltic has no remaining interests in Romania.
“This concludes our involvement in the Romanian Black Sea. This process of disengagement forms part of our strategy to focus our efforts on our production and development assets, and to exit from high risk exploration ventures. We have now withdrawn from Romania and Kurdistan, and are focusing our future exploration efforts on Egypt and Italy,” said Brian O’Cathain, CEO of Petroceltic.
In February 2015, Petroceltic said it plans to restrict exploration activities in Romania, Bulgaria and Greece and farm-out acreage in Italy and Egypt, in order to significantly reduce operating and capital expenditure in 2015.
Petroceltic International is a leading upstream oil and gas exploration and production company, focused on the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean Region, and listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market and the Irish Stock Exchange’s ESM Market. The company has production, exploration and development assets in Algeria, Egypt, Bulgaria and Italy.