Romania's Senate said it approved amendments to the offshore bill which are expected to help unlock major offshore oil and gas projects in the Black Sea and secure the country's energy independence. - SeeNews
The amendments stipulate that the Romanian state will have preemption rights and will receive around 60% of the income generated by offshore gas projects, according to the bill published on the Senate's website on Wednesday.
The remaining 40% of the income will go to investors such as oil and gas group OMV Petrom and natural gas producer Romgaz, which will partner-up in the offshore gas project Neptun Deep.
The draft bill also states the taxation regime will not change for the duration of offshore gas projects and introduces a smaller tax on gas sales. Also, it removes export restrictions for natural gas, except in emergency situations.
This new bill will ensure Romania's independence and energy security and, at the same time, the proposed amendments will stimulate the development of small and medium enterprises involved in the offshore sector, of related industries, as well as of those positively affected by the indirect and induced economic impact generated by offshore projects.
Virgil Popescu said in a social media post on Wednesday after the Senate's vote
These additional natural gas resources would contribute to ensuring Romania's sustainable energy supply, to achieving long-term decarbonization targets, as well as to the development of national infrastructure and other high value-added industries, namely chemistry and petrochemistry
Virgil Popescu said in a social media post on Wednesday after the Senate's vote
The amended bill is pending a final vote in the parliament's lower house, the Chamber of Deputies.
The existing offshore bill, adopted by parliament in 2018, stipulated that half of the natural gas obtained from the offshore perimeters in the Black Sea will have to be sold on the domestic market, and enforced a progressive tax on additional revenues from offshore activities.
On May 3, Romgaz announced it has signed the contract for the acquisition of Exxon Mobil's 50% stake in the Black Sea offshore project Neptun Deep for $1.06 billion (1 billion euro). The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022. The other half of the rights and obligations under the XIX Neptun Deep Block concession is held by Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom.
OMV Petrom entered a joint venture with ExxonMobil for exploration of Neptun Deep Block in 2008. The block covers an area of some 7,500 sq km in water depths ranging from 100 to 1,700 meters, according to information posted on OMV Petrom's website.
In March, Austria's OMV, which holds a 51% stake in OMV Petrom, said it will make the final investment decision on the Neptun Deep project next year, pending a new offshore law from the Romanian parliament.
In October, Romania-based Black Sea Oil & Gas (BSOG) said that it expects to begin extracting natural gas from its offshore Midia Natural Gas Development (MGD) project in Romania in the first quarter of 2022.
