Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom has signed a three-year contract to deliver gas from the pending Black Sea offshore project Neptun Deep to Moldova, Romania's energy ministry said on Wednesday.
Jointly owned by OMV Petrom and Romanian state-owned gas producer Romgaz, Neptun Deep holds an estimated 100 billion cubic metres of recoverable gas, and is one of the European Union's most significant gas deposits.
On track to deliver its first gas in 2027, Neptun Deep is Romania's biggest energy project since it completed its second nuclear reactor almost two decades ago.
OMV Petrom, which is majority controlled by Austria's OMV, will also supply Germany's Uniper with 15 terawatt hours of gas from Neptun Deep under a five-year deal.
Romania's energy ministry said the contract with Moldova's Energocom amounted to less than one per cent of Neptun Deep's estimated reserves.
"This marks a new stage of consolidating regional energy security and the recovery of Romania's strategic resources," the energy ministry said.
Neptun Deep will double Romania's gas production and likely turn it into a net exporter, at a time when the EU is weaning itself off Russian gas.
OMV Petrom and Romgaz plan to sell the gas separately, but under Romanian law the government will have a pre-emptive first right to gas from the project under certain security of supply conditions.
The popular eurosceptic frontrunner of Romania's presidential election, George Simion, has repeatedly said the EU and NATO state should buy back the controlling stake in OMV Petrom, raising concerns among investors.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Alan Charlish and Jan Harvey)