OMV Petrom awards drilling contracts to Transocean, Halliburton for Black Sea natural gas project
(WO) – OMV Petrom has made significant progress in developing the Neptun Deep project. The company has signed an agreement with an estimated value of $350.45 million for the semi-submersible drilling rig Transocean Barents for a minimum period of one and a half years.
Additionally. a contract of approximately $150.94 million was signed with Halliburton Romania for integrated drilling services. These are in addition to the previously announced $1.73 billion contract with Saipem for the offshore facilities, as well as other smaller contracts.
Christina Verchere, OMV Petrom CEO said, "With the award of the drilling rig and integrated drilling services agreements, OMV Petrom has now secured more than 80% of the execution agreements required to deliver the Neptun Deep project. We are working with reputed international contractors and suppliers, who have the skills and experience to deliver this complex project.
“We also count on the experience of our local suppliers, who have specific knowledge of the Romanian environment so that we get the best possible outcome for Neptun Deep project. Our most important objective is to start production safely and on budget in 2027, together with our partner Romgaz, and to support Romania in its transition to become the largest natural gas producer in the EU."
The agreement for the sixth-generation semi-submersible drilling rig includes crew and associated services, products, equipment and materials. The Transocean Barents is a state-of-the-art drilling rig with a Class 3 dynamic positioning system, anchors and dual RAM Rigs, meaning it can work efficiently at both our shallow and deepwater locations. Mobilization to the Black Sea is scheduled to commence towards the end of 2024, with drilling activities planned in 2025. In total, 10 wells are to be drilled.
Halliburton Energy Services Romania, together with Newpark Drilling Fluids Eastern Europe, will provide integrated drilling services. Halliburton’s international and local experience in Romania will be deployed on a wide range of services such as cementing, directional drilling and well completions.
With these latest commitments, OMV Petrom and ROMGAZ are on track to safely deliver the first gas from Neptun Deep in 2027, and the project remains within the up to $4.31 billion guidance for total investment.
The infrastructure required to develop the fields comprises three subsea production systems, one at Pelican South, and two at Domino, with the associated flow lines and umbilicals, a shallow water offshore gas platform, the main natural gas pipeline to shore at Tuzla and a natural gas metering station.
The offshore platform generates its own power, operating at the highest standards of safety and environmental protection. The wells and fields will be operated remotely, through a digital twin. A key aspect of the development concept is that natural reservoir energy is used to transport the gas to shore, eliminating the need for gas compression. This, together with other design features, ensures that emissions from the Neptun Deep development are kept to a minimum, well below industry norms.
In August this year, the company signed an agreement with Saipem S.p.A. and Saipem Romania SRL with a total estimated value of approximately $1.73 billion for the management, engineering, procurement, fabrication, assembly, maritime transportation, installation, testing and commissioning services for the offshore facilities of the Neptun Deep project. In addition, the contract includes the testing and commissioning of the gas metering station and the near shore and onshore sections of the gas production pipeline.
