OMV Petrom and ROMGAZ spud the first gas production well of Neptun Deep project

OMV Petrom, the largest integrated energy producer in Southeast Europe, and ROMGAZ, the largest producer and main supplier of natural gas in Romania, announce the spud of the first well for development and production of the Pelican South and Domino natural gas fields in the Neptun Deep block, located 160 km offshore in the Black Sea. The project is progressing according to plan, with first gas estimated for 2027. Neptun Deep will contribute approximately 8 billion cubic meters annually to Romania's gas production once plateau production is reached.

The well foundations for Pelican were successfully installed using an advanced technology for offshore drilling, the CAN-ductor from Neodrill, that minimizes the overall environmental footprint of the drilling process. The drilling of the first well is estimated to take approximately 2-3 months.

The drilling will be carried out using the Transocean Barents mobile drilling unit, which has been contracted especially for the project. Halliburton Energy Services Romania and Newpark Drilling Fluids Eastern Europe will provide the 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.

The infrastructure required for the development of the two fields includes three subsea production systems, one for Pelican South and two for Domino, the associated gathering pipeline network, a shallow-water offshore natural gas platform, the main natural gas pipeline to the shore at Tuzla, and a natural gas metering station. The offshore platform generates its own electricity, 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 the natural energy of the reservoir is used to transport the natural gas to shore, eliminating the need for compression. This, along with other project features, ensures that emissions from the Neptun Deep project are kept to a minimum, significantly below industry benchmarks.

In addition to the drilling operations, work continues on various components of the Neptun Deep project: the production platform is under construction, systems for the subsea infrastructure are being manufactured, the support field vessel is being built, and the natural gas metering station is also under construction.

OMV Petrom and ROMGAZ are jointly investing up to 4 billion euros in total in the development of the Neptun Deep project.