The Petrom-ExxonMobil Black Sea partnership stake

The two companies are to look for reserves on a 9,900 square kilometer area. They have to do 3D seismic work and drill at depths below 100 meters. According to National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM) experts, costs could amount to billions of dollars in the exploration stage alone, prior to entering the production phase.

Specialists say that only 10-15 percent of explorations continue on to a production development stage, later to be sold to other companies.

Furthermore, the Neptun area, where Petrom-ExxonMobil explorations are to be carried out, is part of an area claimed by both Romania and neighboring Ukraine. A decision on the issue is to be made by the International Court of Justice next spring.

According to ANRM data, “the undiscovered resource potential, as a prognosis for the Romanian continental Black Sea shelf, is estimated at 50-100 million tons of oil and 40-120 billion cubic meters of natural gas.”