Clock ticks on Romgaz Black Sea deal

The state-owned firm has just over three weeks left on an exclusivity agreement for a transaction key to unlocking Romania’s offshore potential

A four-month exclusivity clause on the offer by Romania’s Romgaz to purchase ExxonMobil’s E&P business in the country, which includes a 50pc stake in the undeveloped offshore Neptun Deep discovery, will expire on 15 October. The deal could be pivotal to the change of a law that has retarded offshore development in the southeast European state. Romgaz and the US major struck the agreement in mid-June after an April offer by the state-owned gas firm for ExxonMobil’s Neptun Deep stake. The firm’s government owner has been a keen supporter of bringing these gas reserves into Romanian hands, according to consultancy Rystad Energy, as doing so offers greater domestic control of a project that