Romania took an important step to start the exploitation of its first gas deposit offshore as Romania-based oil and gas company, Black Sea Oil & Gas (BSOG) launched the installation phase for a 121 kilometres subsea gas pipeline within the offshore Midia Natural Gas Development Project (MDG). The project is expected to go online in 2021.
Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban (pictured above) who attended the ceremony to mark the start of work on the pipeline said that this step is a symbolic moment that shows a clear will to complete an extremely important project for Romania.
The Midia Natural Gas Development Project is the first new offshore gas development project in the Romanian Black Sea to be built after 1989. It comprises the Ana and Doina gas fields located some 120 km offshore Romania in the XV Midia Shallow area. The development is estimated to hold 10 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas reserves.
The MDG project consists of five production wells (one subsea well at Doina field and four platform wells at Ana field) and a subsea gas production system over the Doina well which will be connected through an 18 kilometres pipeline with a new unmanned production platform located over Ana field.
The 121 kilometres subsea pipeline will ensure the delivery of the gas from Ana platform to the shore, where a 4.3 kilometres underground pipeline will connect to a new onshore gas treatment plant, with a capacity of 1 bcm per year, which represents 10 per cent of Romania’s consumption.
The construction, installation and commissioning of the entire infrastructure will be completed in two years, based on a general contract with the GSP Offshore.
BSOG is owned by Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP) (an American closed private equity fund that targets investments in oil and gas outside of North America) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
US Ambassador to Romania Adrian Zuckerman, who also attended the inauguration ceremony commended BSOG and its contractors for persevering and achieving progress on the project, which he called “a key pillar of the US-Romania Strategic Partnership.”
“With an estimated annual output of one billion cubic meters, BSOG’s Midia Gas Development will contribute to energy security by ensuring diversification of sources of gas and reducing dependence on Russian gas imports,” highlighted the Ambassador.
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