Romania and the Republic of Moldova should become less dependent on gas imports, said Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, adding that he hopes this will happen in 3-4 years, after ExxonMobil and Petrom explorations will start in the Black Sea, reports local Mediafax.

Ponta recently made a visit on the Ocean Endeavor platform in the Romanian sector of the Black Sea, where ExxonMobil and Petrom perform exploratory drilling for gas deposits. The deepwater exploration drilling is conducted at Domino 2 well in the Neptun perimeter.

After the visit, the Prime Minister said that Romania must ensure its own gas resource, given that “on a short and medium term, or even in a long term, the economic relations with Russia will get worse”.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com