American oil group ExxonMobil has launched an auction for a master agreement for the purchase of geotechnical prospecting and marine cartography in the Black Sea.

The agreement, which spans over four years, has a maximum value of USD 34.4 million, VAT not included, according to an announcement published on Romania’s electronic public purchase platform SEAP, reports local Economica.net.

ExxonMobil and Romanian oil & gas group OMV Petrom have been jointly exploring an offshore perimeter in Romania’s Black Sea platform. In 2012, the consortium announced the discovery of a gas deposit of 42 to 84 billion cubic meters. Some energy experts estimate that the deposit may contain over 100 billion cubic meters of gas.

ExxonMobil and OMV Petrom have intensified their exploration work in the perimeter and have drilled several wells to assess the reserves. The commercial exploitation of the gas reserves may start at the end of this decade.

ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania had total revenues of EUR 55.8 million and losses of EUR 71.5 million in 2015.

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