OMV Petrom and the international oil and gas company ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania have announced the discovery of a natural gas reservoir in the Black Sea. Preliminary estimates place the deposit at 42-84 billion cubic meters of gas, which is the equivalent of up to 6 times the annual consumption of Romania. The two companies began drilling operations towards the end of 2011.
The gas resevoir was discovered at Domino-1, a deep sea exploration well located 170 km offshore in more than 900 meters of water. The well goes down 3,000 meters below sea level. Officials say it is still too early to determine whether the reservoir will be commercially viable for development.
