Romanian Energy Company Aims to Keep Production Stable

Romanian oil and gas company OMV Petrom has announced that it will invest around €400 million in the re-development of mature oil fields up until 2015.

According to news website, Romanian Insider, a scheme at Suplacu in north-west Romania has now entered the implementation phase. It will be the focus of €200 million investment over the next two years, according to an OMV Petrom statement.

The Suplacu fields have been exploited for 50 years and currently account for 10% of OMV Petrom’s daily oil production. The company is the largest oil and gas producer in eastern Europe.

"We operate very mature fields and over the last years we have been able to reduce the production decline rate to roughly 1 percent per year. At present we supply approximately 40% of the oil and gas demand in Romania. Field redevelopment projects are, and will be, essential to keep production stable," said OMV Petrom chief executive Mariana Gheorghe.

The Suplacu field re-development project includes additional drilling, application of new methods to increase the recovery of hydrocarbons, construction of a new gathering park and water treatment plant as well as the modernization of the gas combustion and air compression systems.

As of the end of 2012, OMV Petrom exploited proved oil and gas reserves of approximately 775 mn boe in Romania and Kazakhstan, but with the vast majority in Romania, with a maximum annual refining capacity of 4.2 mn t. The company operates 800 filling stations under two brands, Petrom and OMV, in Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia.