Romanian Oil and gas company Petrom and ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania will drill the first deep water exploration well in the Romanian waters of the Black Sea by the end of this year – beginning of 2012, Petrom has announced. This is a new exploration phase for the Neptun block in the Black Sea, after the Romanian Government extended the exploration period for this block.

“We have to take into account the fact that the Romanian deep water area of the Black Sea is unexplored and deep water exploration activities carry a high investment risk. Generally, deep water exploration and development costs are many times higher than onshore,” said Johann Pleininger, member of Petrom Executive Board responsible for Exploration and Production.

Petrom and ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited signed a farm-out agreement in 2008 by which ExxonMobil acquired a 50 percent interest in the Neptun Block. Since then, the two companies have been working closely together to acquire 3D seismic and evaluate the exploration potential of the block.

Petrom has recently made a significant gas discovery in Southwestern Romania, in Oltenia area, which may be the most important onshore gas discovery in Romania in the last six years, the company has announced.

Petrom Group is present on the distribution market for oil products through a network of approximately 800 filling stations, operated under two brands, Petrom and OMV.In Romania, this activity is performed through OMV Petrom Marketing, fully owned by Petrom. OMV Petrom Marketing operates 546 filling stations, out of which 389 are Petrom and 157 OMV.

For the Group’s sustainable development, its strategy includes business diversification by approaching the power market. In this context, Petrom is building a 860 MW gas fired power plant at Brazi and has acquired the project for the construction of a 45 MW wind park.

In 2010, the Group’s turnover was EUR 4.4 billion, while its EBIT was of EUR 709 million. OMV, one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies holds a 51.01 percent stake in Petrom. The Romanian state is currently selling a 9.84 percent stake in OMV Petrom through a secondary public offering on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

editor@romania-insider.com