WATCH: Transocean rig preps to spin the drill bit on €4B gas project

With preparations one of the semi-submersible rigs, owned by Switzerland-based offshore drilling contractor Transocean, is undergoing in Constanta drawing to a close, a start-up date for a long-term drilling campaign on a natural gas project in the Black Sea is fast approaching.

Transocean won a minimum 540-day contract for the Transocean Barents rig in December 2023 for a drilling program off the coast of Romania with Southeastern Europe’s integrated energy player, OMV Petrom.

The semi-submersible rig arrived in Constanta in November 2024 to get ready for its drilling assignment on the company’s Neptun Deep project, which was slated to begin in April 2025. This gas project is being developed by OMV Petrom and Romgaz, with each company having a 50% participating interest.

“The Neptun Deep project is underway! Transocean Barents, the mobile offshore drilling unit docked in Constanța, Romania, is being prepared to sail 160 km offshore and start drilling the production wells,” highlighted the operator.

Transocean rig's journey

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When the final investment decision was made in June 2023, it was estimated that the project would require investments of up to €4 billion for the development phase. With the first gas expected to be achieved in 2027, the total production is estimated at around 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

According to OMV Petrom, the Neptun Deep project is progressing according to plan, with 90% of the budget already committed. The construction of the production platform advanced during the fourth quarter of 2024 at Saipem‘s sites in Indonesia and Italy, thanks to a €1.6 billion contract for the offshore facilities. 

The operator inked deals with several companies, enabling Halliburton to provide integrated drilling services and Corinth Pipeworks, the steel pipe segment of Cenergy Holdings, to handle manufacturing and supply of the pipeline for the Black Sea project.

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.

While providing its outlook for 2025, Christina Verchere, CEO of OMV Petrom, emphasized: “We expect 2025 to be a difficult and volatile year, with fiscal and regulatory challenges. Assuming a predictable and competitive fiscal and regulatory environment, we expect to reach a record high level of investments of around RON 8 bn, which would contribute to Romania’s energy security and to the country’s economy.”

To this end, the European player also took over TotalEnergies’ interest in the Han Asparuh offshore block in Bulgaria, becoming the asset’s new operator, and partnered with NewMed Energy to advance exploration in the block.

This asset lies in the western Black Sea and south of Romania’s Neptun Deep block, covering an area of 13,712 square kilometers with water depths slightly below 2,000 meters.