Austria’s OMV Postpones Decision On Black Sea Offshore Investment

Austria’s energy group OMV has postponed an investment decision on its Black Sea exploration project until next year because the Romanian government took too long to set the framework conditions, its chief executive said.

The exploration of the Black Sea Neptun block is a joint venture between OMV’s Romanian subsidiary Petrom and U.S. major ExxonMobil, and includes the first deep-water exploration well in Romanian waters.

Romania’s lower house of parliament approved the much-awaited offshore hydrocarbons legal framework earlier on Oct. 24, but Rainer Seele said at a panel discussion in Vienna that it came too late.