Sterling Resources Causes Black Sea Storm

Senate Speaker Mircea Geoana said yesterday in Cluj that the Romanian Government had the obligation to immediately check a concession of the rights to exploit hydrocarbon deposits on the continental shelf of the Black Sea signed on 12 November 2008. Iulian Iancu, Chairman of the Industry Committee of the Chamber of Deputies yesterday said that the Government had approved in November 2008 two classified addenda to the decision by which Sterling, represented by Midia Resources SRL, had received exploitation rights to two natural gas deposits, Doina and Ana, which were currently under evaluation, pending development works. According to Mihai Gherman, Deputy Director General of ANRM, Midia Resources would become the third largest gas producer in Romania with 1 billion cubic meters per year, equal to 10% of the market.

"I must tell you that there is a severe doubt about the rights of the Romanian State to exploit this continental shelf and the significant mineral resources existing there. I therefore believe that it is the Government"s obligation to immediately clarify these classified concessions which were suspiciously signed in the last days of the Tariceanu Government. It seems unnatural to me that someone should be able to acquire the long-term concession to important deposits on 12 November," Senate Speaker Geoana added.

Geoana, also president of the Social Democrat Party (PSD), stressed that the contract was unjustified, especially considering that the International Court in the Hague had not yet passed judgement on the dispute with Ukraine. He appeared convinced that the case would be clarified soon. "I am convinced that the institutions of the State will bring this topic to light. I don"t want to speak on the subject before everything is on the table. We need to wait for the State institutions to check this concession, but it doesn"t look like everything is in order. I believe it is our obligation to remove all suspicions. If there is any reason for doubt, the government has the obligation to terminate this operation and to provide the Romanian state with all the economic advantages which the judgement passed in the Hague granted to Romania. Obviously, Romania must proceed unostentatiously towards Ukraine," Geoana added. In his opinion, the ruling passed in the Hague has made changed the European Union borders de fact and allows Romania to enter "an era of harmonious development of the bilateral relations with Ukraine."

• Iulian Iancu: Questions about the concessions

All the information related to the concession contracts signed with Sterling Resources for the deposits on the continental shelf of the Black Sea will be made public, Iulian Iancu, Chairman of the Industry & Service Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, told a press conference yesterday. He added that questions needed to be answered immediately, because the document "sanctions the right of Sterling Resources to control the part of the production that should have gone to the State." Such concession raises questions, especially since the explanation given so far is that it complies with the Oil Law.

"The latest version of the Oil Law was passed by Parliament in 2004. Enough steps could have been taken in this respect until 2008, but the steps were actually taken while the election campaign was in full progress. I am surprised that the Government decision is not signed by the minister of Justice. It is signed by the chief of staff, Dorin Marian. It"s surprising that the key elements demonstrating whether the Romanian State had incurred any losses by yielding the direct right to the production through the concession to that company are classified documents," Iancu said. He also wondered why the State had no chosen Romgaz as concessionaire. "We will clarify whether the Romanian State would have benefited from a physical quantity of natural gas or a royalty if it had kept the right to a production quota within a joint venture. If things become complicated, we can ask the Standing Bureau to appoint an investigation committee urgently depending on the data that are presented," Iancu added.

• Liberals deny having modified the concession to the Black Sea continental shelf

The National Liberal Party (PNL) yesterday offered explanations regarding the matter of the concession to underground resources in the Black Sea. According to a press release from PNL, the Tariceanu Government had not made any changes to the original concession issued by the Stolojan Government in 1992 and successively extended by all the subsequent Governments. The Government decision of 12 November 2008 did not give the concessionaire any additional rights and did not modify the content of the concession agreement signed by the Stolojan Government. According to the press release, the aforementioned Government decision only made a few name changes, which were necessary "as a result of legislative changes" such as the Oil Law or the normative acts that had changed the names of certain institutions.

• Rompetrol not interested for now in any concession to the future Black Sea perimeters

Rompetrol Group has not expressed any interest in obtaining a concession or establishing a partnership to exploit the future perimeters in the Black Sea, the company announced in a press release yesterday. Rompetrol Group, represented by Rompetrol Upstream and Rompetrol Well Services, in May 2005 concluded a number of commercial contracts with Sterling Resources to secure several cementing and mudlogging services in the Craiova Sud perimeter. The contracts were finalized in July 2006, the press release indicates. Between October 2007 and June 2008, Rompetrol provided the same kind of services in the Midia Perimeter, conceded to Midia Resources, the group announced.

Rompetrol Upstream coordinates exploration & production activities as well as drilling and well services within Rompetrol Group in Romania and internationally. Domestically, Rompetrol holds concession rights to five exploration perimeters: (Satu Mare, Zegujani, Gresu, Nereju and Focsani) and a production perimeter in Golesti. The company is currently running an evaluation programme and a feasibility study to reactivate the deposit in Golesti.