Black Sea seismic program under way offshore Romania

Carlyle Group’s Black Sea Oil & Gas SRL has awarded GC Rieber Shipping a 45-day contract for seismic work offshore Romania in the Black Sea. Wholly owned subsidiary Dolphin Geophysical Ltd. will deliver fast-track 3D seismic with its 16-streamer Polar Marquis.

Black Sea Oil & Gas has interest in three blocks, XIII Pelican, XV Midia Shallow, and EX-25 Luceafarul, which cover 5,000 sq km within the underexplored Romanian continental shelf. Black Sea Oil & Gas operates the blocks on behalf of its partners Gas Plus International BV (Midia and Pelican) and Petro Ventures Europe BV (Midia, Pelican, and Luceafarul).

On May 11 OMV AG said its subsidiary OMV Petrom SA completed a second exploration drilling campaign in January on its Neptun Deep block offshore Romania. In all, seven wells were finalized with most encountering gas (OGJ Online, May 12, 2016). The company said further interpretation was needed to determine commercial viability, but in 2013 OMV assessed that Neptun might produce 6.5 billion cu m/year. First production is expected before 2020. ExxonMobil Corp. is an equal 50% partner.