Lira gas field

Romania's Energy Minister, Virgil Popescu, on Wednesday said Romania will produce more natural gas than it needs once it starts extracting gas from the Black Sea area - and will then be in a position to export to countries in the region, with Moldova a priority.

Romanian gas producer Romgaz has the capacity to support investment in the Neptun Deep deep-water offshore gas field development project in the Black Sea and should be the operator of this project, Chairman of the Romanian National Committee of the World Energy Council Iulian Iancu told a news briefing on Tuesday.

Energy Minister Virgil Popescu met on Wednesday with the representatives of the US company ExxonMobil, and one of the topics of discussion was the collaboration with Romgaz in the field of carbon storage, according to a post on the minister's Facebook page.

 Romania's interest is for investment in the Neptune Deep field in the Black Sea to start in 2022, otherwise the natural gas there will lose its value, said on Thursday Director of the National Mineral Resources Agency (ANRM) Sorin Gal.

The first Romanian gas molecule in the Black Sea will be drilled this year by the Black Sea Oil&Gas company from the Aurora perimeter, and from the Neptune Deep area it will probably happen in 2025, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu said on Monday evening on private B1 TV broadcaster.

Romanian energy company Romgaz on Thursday inaugurated Romanian's biggest onshore natural gas deposit in three decades, with Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu and ruling Social Democrat chief Liviu Dragnea attending, the government announced.

Russian oil giant Lukoil, PanAtlantic and Romgaz discovered a significant natural gas field in the Black Sea continental shelf of Romania.

This was announced by Romgaz, the largest natural gas producer and main gas supplier in Romania, in a statement released on Wednesday.