Oil company OMV Petrom (BVB: SNP) on December 13 confirmed the submission of a declaration of commercial discovery to the mineral resources agency NAMR concerning the offshore field Neptun Deep.

OMV Petrom also said that it estimates the investments for reaching the production stage at EUR 4 bln.

"The declaration represents an intermediate step in the process of making the final investment decision and starting the development," the company explained, according to G4media.ro.

"In the context of the fulfilment of all procedural steps, the final investment decision is estimated for mid-2023, and the first gas production for the beginning of 2027," it added.

However, the state's representative on the company's board, Razvan Nicolescu, recently explained for Ziarul Financiar that the investment decision is more of an internal decision of OMV Petrom that has nothing to do with the investment calendar that is triggered by the declaration of commercial discovery.

As the main operator of Neptun deep, under a 50:50 arrangement with Romgaz, OMV Petrom was bound to confirm the continuation of the project or drop it by the end of this year.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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