Black Sea Oil & Gas (BSOG) has won approval for its $400 million Midia gas field development plan, targeting the Ana and Doina natural gas fields off Romania.

After announcing a final investment decision for the Black Sea project in February, BSOG said the approval from the Romanian government through the National Agency for Mineral Resources (NAMR) has now also been granted.

BSOG chief executive Mark Beacom said: “This approval from NAMR provides the official acknowledgement from the Romanian state that the Midia project is an approved project.”

NAMR president Gigi Dragomir added: “The development of the Ana and Doina gas fields off Romania is a top priority for NAMR, which supports the implementation of a Romanian offshore project that could lead to the diversification of the supply sources in Romania.”

The Midia project is planned to consist of five offshore production wells — one subsea well at the Doina field and four wells drilled from the platform at the Ana field — and a subsea gas production system over the Doina well, which will be connected through an 18-kilometre pipeline with a new unmanned production platform located over the Ana field.

In addition, a 126-kilometre gas pipeline will link the Ana platform to shore and to a new onshore gas treatment plant in the nearby town of Corbu, in Constanta county, with capacity of 1 billion cubic metres per annum.

The processed gas will be delivered into Romania’s national transmission system.

BSOG, together with its co-venture partners Petro Ventures Resources and Gas Plus International, aims to complete detailed engineering for the project this year.

The Carlyle Group-backed player said it is also aiming this year to start fabrication of the Ana wellhead platform at a shipyard in Agigea, as well as the civil constructions at the gas treatment plant site in Corbu.

Local player GSP Offshore was awarded the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning contract last year for all the offshore and onshore facilities, as well as the development drilling contract for the project.

The entire project infrastructure, including all offshore and onshore facilities, have a contracted delivery date of the first quarter of 2021.

Midia’s development was slightly delayed last year after Romania passed an offshore oil and gas law that established new ground rules for operations in the Black Sea.

Under the bill, in addition to royalties and corporate tax, operators will be required to trade at least 50% of resources on the Romanian commodities market, and hire Romanian nationals for at least 25% of positions for their operations in the country.

BSOG delayed sanction at the end of last year while evaluating the changes in the law.

It later said the move to proceed with the project had been taken on the assumption it will be able “to restore all of (its) rights with respect to the removal of any newly-imposed supplemental taxes and fees, as well as removing any restrictions on the free movement of gas on a fully liberalised market”.

Weekly

BSOG gains approval for Midia plan off Romania