Saipem to Build Infrastructure for OMV Petrom’s Black Sea Project
The Italian Saipem has concluded an EPCIC contract (construction, supply, installation and commissioning) with OMV Petrom for a gas production platform and other infrastructure for the implementation of the largest gas project on the Black Sea shelf in Romania – Neptun Deep, the Italian company said.
The platform will be manufactured at the Saipem shipyards in Italy and Indonesia, and service work will be performed by the Saipem 7000 and JSD 6000 vessels.
According to OMV Petrom, the value of the contract will be 1.6 billion euros.
In addition to the gas production platform, the agreement provides for the construction of six deep-water wells (at a depth of about 1 km), four shallow-water wells (at a depth of about 100 meters), three underwater gas production systems, and a main gas pipeline to the coast with a length of about 160 km.
As reported, the Romanian OMV Petrom S.A. (controlled by Austrian oil company OMV) and Romania’s national gas company Romgaz in June approved a plan to develop the Domino and Pelican South natural gas fields in the Neptun Deep block. The recoverable gas resources are estimated at 100 billion cubic meters, the companies plan to receive the first gas in 2027. The estimated investment is 4 billion euros, the bulk of the costs will be in 2024-2026.
It is expected that thanks to the implementation of the project, Romania will become the largest producer of natural gas in the European Union and a net exporter of natural gas.
