Black Sea Oil&Gas (BSOG), a company controlled by Carlyle International Energy Partners and EBRD, decided to proceed with the USD 400 million Midia Gas Development Project, in the Romanian part of the Black Sea, together with its co-venture partners, Petro Ventures Resources and Gas Plus International B.V.

The decision to invest was taken “in good faith and on the assumption that BSOG and its joint venture partners will successfully be able to restore all of their rights with respect to the removal of any newly imposed supplemental taxes and fees as well as removing any restrictions, in accordance with EU Directives, on the free movement of gas on a fully liberalized market in order to not only make the Midia Gas Development Project a viable investment but also to encourage further gas developments in the Black Sea,” the company said.

The Midia Gas Development Project (MGD project) is the first new offshore gas development project in the Romanian Black Sea to be built after 1989. It consists of 5 offshore production wells (1 subsea well at Doina field and 4 platform wells at Ana field) and a subsea gas production system over the Doina well which will be connected through an 18 km pipeline with a new unmanned production platform located over Ana field. A 126 km gas pipeline will link the Ana platform to the shore and to a new onshore gas treatment plant in the commune of Corbu, in Constanta county, with a capacity of 1 BCM per year, representing 10% of Romania’s consumption.

In November of 2018, BSOG announced it signed an agreement with French group Engie, through its Romanian subsidiary, for gas sales. Under this agreement, Engie will purchase gas from the Ana and Doina gas reservoirs over a minimum period of 10 years. BSOG has also secured a gas transmission contract with Transgaz for the transport of the MGD Project production into the National Transmission System for a period of 15 years.

The entire MGD project infrastructure, including all offshore and onshore facilities, is to be built by Q1 of 2021. All the contracting activities for this project will, in total, have Romanian content of roughly 70%, the company said. This year, BSOG plans to complete the detailed engineering for the MGD Project, start the fabrication of the Ana Wellhead Platform at the shipyard in Agigea, and start the civil constructions at the GTP site in Corbu.

At the end of last year, BSOG put off making a decision on continuing its investments so as to evaluate the provisions of the new offshore law. Mark Beacom, the CEO of BSOG, recently told Reuters that the legislative changes introduced at the end of 2018, which included a 2% tax on the turnover of energy companies and the capping of the natural gas price charged by local producers, had a negative impact on the company’s investment plans.

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editor@romania-insider.com