Work is now underway to develop large natural gas fields off Romania’s coast in the Black Sea, which will make the country not only the largest producer in the European Union, but also a major contributor to European energy security by cutting off supplies from Russia.
The $4.7 billion Neptun Deep gas project, which will be operational in 2027, will supply 8 billion cubic meters of gas per year at peak production to an onshore metering station where it will feed into the national transmission system and connect to other EU member systems.
OMV Petrom, a unit of Austria-based energy developer OMV, and state-owned gas producer ROMGAZ SA, which are 50-50 partners in the development project, announced the start of construction on the nearly 100-mile, 30-in. pipeline from the offshore Pelican South and Domino gas fields. It is estimated that they contain around 100,000 million cubic meters of recoverable natural gas.
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“Neptune Deep is a strategic project for Romania and for the region’s energy security. It gives Romania a much bigger stage in the European Union,” Christina Verchere, CEO of OMV Petrom, said on May 4.
“By 2026, we will make significant progress … installing the offshore pipeline, subsea equipment and the production platform,” Verchere added. The final investment decision for the project was announced in 2023.
Under a $1.75 billion contract, Italy-based installation contractor Saipem is building the pipeline that will carry gas from the Neptun Alpha platform to Tuzla onshore, from where it will be sent indirectly via other EU-backed pipelines to Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovakia, Moldova and Ukraine, systems aimed at eliminating dependence of gas imports from Russia.
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Romania’s new gas exports are expected to have a significant impact on the country’s economy, estimated to generate $20 billion over its lifetime.
The gas fields are located at a water depth of 1,000 meters, which means that the project requires a complete deepwater development system. The project infrastructure also includes 10 wells, 3 subsea production systems and associated flowlines, a gas measurement station and an offshore platform that will be installed in 100 meters of water and serve as a hub for all subsea wells.
Some of Saipem’s most specialized vessels, the Castoro 10, the Castorone and the JSD 6000, are involved in pipeline installation and heavy subsea work.
“The installation work planned for this year involves the mobilization of a fleet of approximately 50 vessels, up to 10 of which are involved in the pipeline installation work,” OMV Petrom exploration and production executive Cristian Hubati said in the statement.
Materials and equipment required for the project include 200,000 tons of steel for platform jackets, tops and subsea structures, more than 100 km of electro-hydraulic umbilicals, 50-70 km long flow lines made of corrosion-resistant alloy and thousands of components, hundreds of suppliers and multi-year project manufacturing.
Saipem also announced in December a $425 million offshore contract from Turkish Petroleum OTC for three pipelines totaling 153 km as part of the extension of the third phase of the Sakarya gas field development project in the Turkish sector of the Black Sea, with work to run in the second half of 2027.
