Petroceltic, registered in Ireland, owns 40% of the commercial rights over blocks in Ex-28 Est Cobalcescu and Ex-27 Muridava in the Romanian Black Sea and operates exploration works in these perimeters, that stretch onto 2,000 square kilometers.
The company had total exploitation expenses of $64.3 million in the first half, of which $8.1 million for the drilling of a second well in its Romanian perimeters. The Muridava-1 well was drilled at the end of the first quarter, at a depth of 2,747 meters. The cost of the drilling was amortized because not enough hydrocarbon reserves were found to justify commercial exploitation, the company said.
Petroceltic has an investment budget of $27 million for the Romanian perimeters, where it plans to drill three wells. The company got exploitation licenses for a three year-period in 2011, which may be extended by up to seven years.
Petroceltic seeks oil and gas in the Muridava and Cobalcescu blocks and continues exploration started last year, when it invested $20 million in Romania.
The company estimates it will invest a total $100 million this years in perimeters in Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, Algeria, Egypt and Iraqi Kurdistan.