“There is interest from companies for these oil fields but the process is subject to non-disclosure agreements, therefore we are unable to provide details about the companies interested,” Petrom said.
Petrom said in the fall of 2014 that the 30 onshore fields had a marginal contribution to its production, of up to 0.6%, but they might be interesting to companies specializing in boosting yield of such blocks.
The company announced this year that it planned to cut the investment budget by 30% due to the drop in oil price. Petrom drills for oil and gas in 9,000 wells in 240 blocks, some of which in the Black Sea. The company announced its Black Sea project would continue and has already completed or is about to complete drilling of exploration wells in the Neptun block.
“This is a complex process, in which third parties, both companies and authorities are involved, so we cannot provide a clear date for the transfer [of the licenses],” Petrom officials added.
The companies interested might be the small producers operating in Romania. One such company is Amromco Energy, the third natural gas producer in the country, which has recently said it was in talks with Petrom over a number of marginal fields.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)