Petrom is planning to buy a petroleum exploration and drilling company so as to stabilise its level of oil and gases drilled by 2010, given that it is facing a production decline.
"We are trying to see whether it is possible to buy an exploration and production company. This is not one of the targets set for 2006. Everything on this market is up to what happens to the petroleum price this year, and we have to examine a lot of projects to get one, to be able to conclude a deal," the company''s deputy general manager Werner Schinhan told Mediafax.
He explained Petrom did not have a specific goal in mind for either the Romanian or the international market, but it would act on its own in case the deal did not exceed 300 million dollars. "If it is about a larger amount, we could do it together with OMV," Petrom''s deputy general manager added.
Petrom officials at the end of last year estimated that the petroleum and gas production would reach an all time low for the company, 205,000-210,000 oil-equivalent barrels (OEB) per day, while the 2005 target was 216,000 barrels per day. Petrom''s output has been dwindling year by year, largely because of the lack of any significant investments in the exploration operations (identifying new deposits) or in making the blocks in operation efficient. Petrom''s goals up until 2010 pursue stabilising the daily output in Romania to 210,000 oil-equivalent barrels a day, speeding up the pace of reserve replacement to 70% and expanding operations in the Caspian Sea region. The company will invest some 300 million euros a year in exploration and production by 2010.
Held by the Austrian group OMV, Petrom is the largest Romanian oil and gas company, with exploration, drilling, refining, petrochemical products and sales operations.
It has petroleum and gas reserves estimated at one billion oil-equivalent barrels, a refining capacity that stands at 8 million tonnes and some 600 fuel retail stations.
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