Two contracts for huge Black Sea gas project reel in $10 million for Expro

U.S.-headquartered energy services provider Expro has secured two contracts with Southeastern Europe’s integrated energy player OMV Petrom worth over $10 million for what is said to be the largest natural gas project in the Romanian Black Sea.

The contracts described as major involve Expro’s subsea landing string (SSLS), SeaCure cementing technology, tubular running services (TRS) and Coretrax Advance drilling tools to support the Neptun Deep gas project offshore Romania.

“With the awarding of these contracts, Expro is progressing our plans to expand our operations and strengthen our support of the energy industry in eastern Europe and beyond,” said Andrei Ion, Expro Senior Area Manager in Europe Mediterranean and Caspian. “Neptun Deep is an important energy project for Romania. We are proud of being selected to support this important development.”

The contracts mark the latest stage in Expro’s growth in Romania, in addition to the company’s recent opening of a new office in Bucharest, setting up a new operational base, and a program to grow its Romania-based staff.

The news comes a week after Expro reported it had won a contract to supply tubular running services (TRS) for the first offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the Netherlands. 

Located about 160 kilometers from the shore, in waters between 100 and 1,000 meters, the Neptun Deep block in the Black Sea, which covers an area of 7,500 square kilometers, is expected to have a carbon footprint of around 2.2 kg CO2/boe, which is below the industry average of 16.7 kg CO2/boe.

Being developed by OMV Petrom and Romgaz, with each having a 50% participating interest, the project is expected to achieve first gas in 2027, with the total production estimated at around 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

The gas project reached the final investment decision (FID) in June 2023, when it was estimated that it would require investments of up to €4 billion for the development phase.