Romanian natural gas producer Romgaz said it has reached an agreement for the acquisition of the 50% stake that ExxonMobil holds in Black Sea offshore project Neptun Deep and expects to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2022, according to See News.
As part of the agreement, Romgaz is buying 100% of ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Holdings (EMEPRL), it said in a statement filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
EMEPRL holds half of the rights and obligations under the concession agreement for petroleum exploration, development and production in XIX Neptun Deep Block, the other half is held by Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom.
This agreement will be signed after it is endorsed by the Romgaz board of directors and approved by the company’s extraordinary general shareholders meeting.
In June, Romgaz signed an exclusivity agreement related to the negotiations for the acquisition, after submitting a binding offer in April and in April, OMV Petrom said that if ExxonMobil accepts the offer submitted by Romgaz, it will join in the project as operator.
At the beginning of October, Romgaz announced it is seeking a RON 1.6bln (€323mln) bank credit to finance the deal and cover its current working capital needs.
OMV Petrom entered a joint venture with ExxonMobil for exploration of the Neptun Block in 2008. Neptun Deep would be the second offshore gas project in the Black Sea, in which Romgaz would have a participation if it buys a stake in it.