Romania's leading oil company OMV Petrom will invest around 200 million euros ($255.9 million) up to 2015 in redevelopment works at its Suplacu field in the northwestern locality of Barcau, the company said in a statement Friday, news agency Mediafax reports.
The works aim to unlock additional hydrocarbon reserves in the region, Petrom said.
"We operate very mature fields and over the last years we have been able to reduce the production decline rate to roughly 1% per year. Field redevelopment projects are and will be essential to keep production stable," said Mariana Gheorghe, chief executive of Petrom.
She said Petrom currently supplies approximately 40% of the oil and gas demand in Romania.
Suplacu is a mature oil field, which has been in production for over 50 years. Its daily production is 10% of the total oil production of OMV Petrom in Romania.
The redevelopment works will comprise the drilling of an additional 105 wells, the implementation of state-of-the-art technology to increase hydrocarbon recovery rates, as well as the construction of a new water treatment plant and upgrades to the company's gas combustion and air compression systems.
Petrom plans to redevelop six to eight oil fields by 2015, including the Suplacu project. Total investment in the projects, which are slated to unlock additional 70 million barrels of oil equivalent, is estimated at EUR400 million.
The company's average reserve recovery rate for its 238 fields operated locally stands at 25% for oil and around 49% for gas, the company said.
Petrom is majority owned by Austria's OMV, with a 51% stake. Romania's Economy Ministry and investment fund Fondul Proprietatea hold 20.63% and 20.11% in Petrom, respectively, while the remaining shares are traded on the Bucharest bourse.
