Through the investment of more than half a billion euros, the gas pipeline will be built between Tuzla on the coast and Podisor, 40 kilometers from the Romanian capital. Podisor is one of the focal points of the Romanian natural gas network, one of the compressor stations of the BRUA pipeline, which is intended to connect the gas networks of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria – and has already been partially implemented. The amount of gas intended to be brought to the surface from the Neptun Deep deep-sea natural gas field by the Romanian state-owned natural gas company Romgaz and the Austrian OMV-Petrom will reach the national and European natural gas networks through the approximately 300-kilometer new pipeline.
The pipeline will be built by Transgaz, the Romanian gas transmission system operator. The agreement was signed by the heads of the three energy companies in a solemn ceremony at the headquarters of the Romanian government. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, who was present at the conclusion of the agreement, pointed out that this is the penultimate step for the extraction of the Neptun Deep natural gas field, which Romgaz and OMV-Petrom, which have extraction rights, must make a decision on the start of the investment estimated at four billion euros. According to the prime minister, the decision of the OMV group in this regard is expected in the summer.
Ciuca indicated that the government has made all preparations for the implementation of the Tuzla-Podisor gas pipeline, but the construction will only begin after the decision of the concession partners on the extraction of Black Sea gas.
In the 7,500 square kilometer Neptun Deep area, 170 kilometers from the Romanian coast, according to data from OMV-Petrom, the continental shelf at a depth of 1,700 meters hides 100 billion cubic meters of gas reserves, but extraction can start in 2027 at the earliest, for this, an investment of 4 billion euros is still needed.
Cover image: Getty Images
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