Transocean Bags Rig Contract for Romania's Neptun Deep

OMV Petrom SA has contracted a Transocean Ltd. rig for Romania’s first deepwater offshore gas project and awarded the integrated drilling services to the local unit of the United States’ Halliburton Co.

The Transocean Barents semi-submersible drilling rig will be deployed to the Neptun Deep block on the Romanian side of the Black Sea for at least one and a half years. OMV Petrom and Transocean have agreed on a contract value of EUR325 million ($354.05 million).

Tasked with 10 wells the drilling vessel is scheduled for mobilization to the Black Sea toward the end of next year while drilling is planned to start 2025.

“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”, OMV Petrom said in a press release.

Halliburton Energy Services Romania SRL meanwhile has won a EUR 140 million ($152.51 million) contract for integrated drilling services, which it will execute with Newpark Drilling Fluids Eastern Europe SRL. “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”, OMV Petrom said.

The awarding of the new contracts meant Romanian state-backed OMV Petrom has now reached 80 percent completion in the execution of needed contracts to complete Neptun Deep, a 2012 discovery that spans 7,500 square kilometers (2,895.77 miles).

In August it signed the main contract for Neptun Deep with Saipem SPA and Saipem Romania SRL, worth about EUR 1.6 billion ($1.74 billion). The contract is for engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning services.

OMV Petrom expects the project to begin production 2027, with a 10-year life. The volume of recoverable gas has been pegged at 3.53 trillion cubic feet. Daily output is projected to be approximately 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent.

The development consists of three subsea production systems with associated flow lines and umbilicals, a shallow water offshore gas platform, a natural gas pipeline and natural gas metering, according to OMV Petrom.

“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”, it said.

OMV Petrom chief executive Christina Verchere said in a statement, “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”, Verchere added.

“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”.

In June, OMV Petrom and Romgaz announced the final investment decision (FID) on Neptun Deep. OMV Petrom, which is majority held by Austrian primarily state-owned OMV Group, and Romania’s majority stated-owned Romgaz have decided to invest up to $4.4 billion (EUR 4 billion) for the block, they said in a joint media release at the time.

Romania’s first deepwater offshore project will make the country the biggest gas producer in the European Union, the companies said in the FID announcement.

“To give an example of the project’s size: the estimated natural gas production is equivalent to ~30 times the current annual demand of ~4,300,000 households”, Verchere said in a statement at the time.

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE