Oil and gas exploration in Romania - projects over EUR 100 mln are blocked

The head of the National Agency for Mineral Resources, Sorin Gal, says that several exploration projects in the oil and gas sectors are blocked in Romania due to the current legal framework.

He said the the Petroleum Law has to be amended because at this moment energy companies have problems doing exploration works on private land.

„Unfortunately, the law in Romania is not very clear. (…) We are working to find solutions to the Petroleum Law so that we can intervene in this process without breaching the property right, which is enshrined in the Constitution,” said Gal in an interview for Agerpres. In some cases, owners have blocked any exploration activities on their land.

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He suggested the law could be amended by the Government through an Emergency Ordinance, adding that in the exploration stage there are projects worth over EUR 100 million that are fronzen.

„All the Romanian oil well drilling firms are in insolvency and we are in a critical stage,” said the official.

Gal announced that the ANRM will „soon” launch the 11th tender for petroleum fields concessions in the Blak Sea.

„So we will finish the whole Black Sea area, and in Romania I think we will have around 90 percent of the areas with petroleum potential,” said Gal.

At present, the oil and gas industry in Romania is struggling with the falling oil prices, which has seen companies start to restructure their operations in terms of head count in a bid to cut costs.

According to the National Statistics Institute (INS), close to 20,000 people were working in the extraction of oil and gas in 2014.