Sources say that OMV's Romanian subsidiary has agreed to supply gas to Germany

Three people with knowledge of the situation have confirmed that OMV's Romanian subsidiary has signed a contract to supply Uniper gas from its Black Sea Project starting in 2027. This comes as Europe looks for new ways to increase energy security following the breakup with Russia.

The deal, which was not disclosed before, is for a five-year supply of 15 terawatts of natural gas to be delivered by the Neptun Deep Project. This comes after Russia stopped gas deliveries via Ukraine last month and the European Union began to reduce its energy purchases due in part to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The contract volume would represent about 1.5% in Germany's imports of gas in 2024. This is the first agreement to support the long-awaited project for deepwater exploration, which has been in the works since Romania's Black Sea section was discovered more than 10 years ago.

Uniper and OMV have declined to comment on any commercial agreements.

Neptun Deep is one of Europe's largest natural gas reserves. It holds approximately 100 billion cubic metres (bcm), or 100 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas.

Romania will be the EU's biggest gas producer once the project is operational. It will also become a net exporter of gas for the first.

OMV Petrom - which is owned by OMV and Romania holds a stake of 20.7% - announced in 2012 that it had found 42-84 Bcm (billion cubic meters) of gas under the Black Sea.

OMV Petrom stated that securing gas before Neptun Deep’s production in 2027 was normal due to the project's large size.

OMV Petrom, a state-owned producer Romgaz and OMV Petrom, who own the Neptun project in a 50:50 split, approved the 2023 project.

The plateau's production will double Romania's output in 10 years to 8 bcm.

According to a Romanian Law, the producers intend to sell gas separately. However, the government has a first-right preemptive to the gas produced by the project.

Gas producers say there is a huge potential for new discoveries in Romania’s Black Sea. The country has estimated reserves of 200 bcm that promise to diversify the supply in the area.

(source: Reuters)