Romgaz, a Romanian gas company, raises 500 million euros through its debut Eurobond

IFR data show that Romanian state-owned Romgaz issued its first eurobond on Monday. The company sold 500 million euros (559.50 million dollars) of five-year papers to fund a project for deepwater gas in the Black Sea.

Romgaz and OMV Petrom have partnered to develop Neptun Deep Black Sea Gas Project, one of Europe's largest natural gas reserves. The project is expected to cost four billion euros, to be divided equally between the two companies.

The company intends to fund its portion of the project via a 1,5 billion euro Euro Medium Term Notes programme that was approved earlier this month.

According to LSEG, Monday's issue had a price of 255 basis over mid-swaps - only 30 basis points higher than Romania's 5-year Eurobond.

Neptun Deep will likely contain around 100 billion cubic meters (bcms) of recoverable gas. The first gas is expected in 2027.

Gas producers say there is a huge potential for more gas discoveries in Romania’s Black Sea. The European Union member country has estimated reserves of 200 bcm that will help diversify the supply in the area. ($1 = 4,4433 lei) $1 = 0,8937 euros (Reporting and editing by Susan Fenton).

(source: Reuters)