In just a few weeks, the massive semi-submersible drilling rig Transocean Barents known as the Mighty Barents will travel from its current anchorage location in Constanta Port 160 kilometers out to sea, to start drilling the 10 gas wells inside the Neptun Deep perimeter, Reuters reports.
Considered one of the European Union's most significant gas deposits, the project is expected to double Romania's production and potentially turn it into a net exporter at a time when the EU has given up on purchases of Russian gas, the news agency notes.
Jointly owned by oil and gas group OMV Petrom, whose majority shareholder is Austria's OMV, and state-owned Romanian gas producer Romgaz, Neptun Deep is estimated to hold 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) of recoverable gas.
"Once the ship goes out to sea it can start drilling in a few days," says OMV Petrom senior executive Cristian Hubati, adding it is a matter of weeks before that happens.
Scheduled to deliver first gas in 2027, Neptun Deep is Romania's biggest energy project since it completed its second nuclear reactor almost two decades ago.
Employees from 20 different companies provide services on the rig, which has a cinema, a gym, a music room, a cafeteria and offices split over four levels.
Once the drilling starts, with some wells at depths of more than 1,000 metres, the rig will host up to 140 staff, which will rotate every four weeks round the clock for up to 18 months, manager Pierre Gully said.
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