OMV Petrom needs 12 months to make the investment decision on Neptun Deep offshore project, the company's CEO Christina Verchere stated on September 22, after Romanian energy minister Virgil Popescu said he would wish to hear about such a decision sooner - by the end of the year.

Romgaz, the other partner of the 50:50 concession agreement regarding the field, is "extremely committed to having the Neptun Deep project finalized," according to its CEO Razvan Popescu.

But somehow, OMV Petrom turned into the operator of the concession contract after Romgaz took over the 50% stake previously held by ExxonMobil.

"You have to have the right regulatory and fiscal framework, and this is what we found challenging, it hasn't always been there," Verchere said, Reuters reported.

BSOG, indeed operating a smaller investment project in Romania's Black Sea, already started production at its Midia field under exactly the same regulatory and fiscal framework as OMV Petrom.

As the deadlines of the concession contract are secret, OMV Petrom has constantly deferred making a decision about Neptun Deep, asking for better fiscal terms. However, according to Profit.ro, energy minister Virgil Popescu revealed in August that under a provision of the concession contract, the operators of the perimeter, OMV Petrom and Romgaz, are obliged to officially declare by the end of 2022 whether the discovered deposits have commercial value and can be exploited under conditions of economic profitability.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Flickr/OMV Petrom)