English
Lukoil is negotiating with the National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM) the terms of the contract for the beginning of the exploration in the perimeters concessioned in the Black Sea.
Last year, the Russian oil company together with the Americans of Vanco International, secured the exploration right for two perimeters of the continental shelf of the Black Sea, in the area won by Romania at the court in Hague following the litigation with Ukraine.
Constantin Tampiza, the coordinator of Lukoil"s development strategy in Romania, said: "We are at the stage where we are negotiating the contractual terms with the ANRM. At the moment, nothing is clear. Our main problem is the fact that the contract in question is very harsh, meaning that all the risks concerning the exploration expenses lie with us. We take on a major risk because we don"t know what type of deposit is ours, how big the flow is as well as the pressure of the deposit". The Lukoil official claims that the Russian consortium is particularly concerned with beginning the exploitation of deposits with low yield.
"Of course, if we find oil, it will be all the better for us, and for the Romanian state as well, which will earn royalties, but we don"t rule out the risk of incurring financial losses if the wells don"t return the expected yields", Tampiza added.
The royalties that the state would earn from the two perimeters would be set based on the structure of the uncovered deposits. However, Mr. Tampiza considers that Lukoil will take on this risk and will begin exploration. "I think that the Lukoil group will be tempted to begin this project because there are certain considerations that make it attractive to the group", said Tampiza.
Russian group Lukoil owns three refineries in the Black Sea basin, which represent an advantage for the company, by allowing it to reduce its logistics expenses.
• "I don"t know about the talks with Sterling"
BURSA recently reported that the Lukoil group would be interested in taking over the exploration and exploitation of the perimeters leased by Canadian company Sterling Resources Ltd on the shelf of the Black Sea. Mark Beacom, the vice-president of Sterling Resources Ltd., said for "BURSA", at the time, that Sterling was not interested in the transaction, because it has the financial resources it needs to perform its operation.
Concerning this matter, Constantin Tampiza said: "I haven"t heard of any such discussion. Frankly, I am curious myself whether Sterling has effectively begun the exploration. I want to tell you that a lot of people are afraid that any money spent on those perimeters would be thrown down the drain!"
Experts claim that the area of 9,700 square kilometers located near the Serpent Island - which Romania won at the Hague in the lawsuit with Ukraine - holds about 12 million tons of oil and other 70 billions cubic meters of natural gas.
The natural resources in the perimeter have an estimated value of about 30 billion dollars, and in order to begin exploitation, investments of hundreds of millions of Euros are required. The Romanian state would earn over billion Euros in royalties.
Euro
Dolar SUA
Franc elveţian
Liră sterlină
Gram de aur
