This is the first time Romgaz gets a rating from Fitch.
„Large Capex Plans: Romgaz has ambitious plans to develop Neptun Deep, a deepwater offshore project in the Romanian Black Sea. Romgaz acquired a 50% stake in the project from Exxon Mobil for EUR1 billion in 2022 and is partners with OMV Petrom, Neptun Deep’s operator. The development plan includes infrastructure of 10 wells and an offshore platform, with production expected to start in 2027, reaching a gross plateau production of approximately 8 billion cubic metres (bcm) annually. Romgaz and OMV Petrom will invest up to EUR4 billion in the project,” reads Fitch report.
Romgaz’s ‘BBB-‘ rating benefits from a one-notch uplift from its ‘bb+’ Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) for state support, as per our Government-Related Entities (GRE) Rating Criteria.
The SCP reflects Romgaz’s dominant position in Romania’s natural gas market, upstream production growth potential from the Neptun Deep and Caragele reservoir developments and conservative financial policy. Key rating constraints include its comparatively modest production scale, lack of geographic diversification due to its sole focus on Romania, the aging nature of its legacy gas assets, large capex and manageable execution risk.
“Achieving BBB- investment grade credit rating at Romgaz is a testament to our strong financial position, healthy business profile and disciplined approach to growth, this being another vote of confidence in our strategy. Our investment grade credit ratings will allow us to more effectively and efficiently access the credit markets as we continue to execute our growth strategy,” said Razvan Popescu, Romgaz Chief Executive Officer.
Romgaz has a RON21.7 billion bourse capitalization. Since the start of 2024, its shares have climbed by 12%. In Q1/2024, the company reported RON1.25 billion net profit amid RON2.3 billion turnover.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)