Petrom Announces Romanian Discovery

OMV Petrom, in partnership with Hunt Oil Company of Romania (Hunt Oil), announces the discovery of a new oil and gas field in the south of Buzău County.

The field was discovered in Perimeter VIII Urziceni Est by drilling the exploration well Padina Nord 1, at a depth of over 2,500 meters. The discovery is located approx. 7 – 12 km away from mature fields, in production for more than 50 years.

Estimates from production tests indicate a potential production per well of 1,200 – 2,100 boe per day from two geological layers.

The exploration investments that led to this discovery by OMV Petrom and Hunt Oil amount to EUR 5 mn.

“It is potentially the largest discovery in the past 30 years, in the Muntenia region. This year, we have made the largest exploration investments since privatization. It is important to continue exploration activities, as 90% of fields we are operating are mature ones and reached their production peak years ago. Currently, we supply about 40% of Romania’s oil and gas demand,” said Gabriel Selischi, member of OMV Petrom Executive Board, responsible for Exploration and Production.

Testing operations will continue to determine the production potential of the discovery and additional seismic data in the region will be acquired to build on this early success.

The discovery was made within the onshore exploration partnership closed in 2010 by OMV Petrom and Hunt Oil. The partnership targets the exploration of two onshore perimeters: I Adjud and VIII Urziceni Est, the operator being Hunt Oil.

OMV Petrom, a unit of Austria's OMV AG, is the largest oil and gas producer in Southeastern Europe