• Record set at the drilling of well 4545 Totea in Totea Deep field
  • Casing drilling technique allows operational costs reduction

OMV Petrom, the largest oil and gas producer in Southeastern Europe, set a world record in the field of casing drilling in terms of diameter of drilling column and depth. Well 4545 Totea was drilled with a 20 inch column at a depth of 505 meters in the Totea Deep field and the world record was certified by Odfjell Well Services, a privately owned international drilling, well service and engineering company with 40 years of experience from worldwide operations. This represents the first phase of the drilling of well 4545, the total estimated depth being around 3,500 meters.

Mariana Gheorghe, OMV Petrom CEO: "These exceptional achievements prove the professionalism of our drilling teams and set new benchmarks in operational excellence. Given that 2/3 of our production comes from fields that have been producing for around 50 years, the latest technologies and adequate expertise are needed to continue to supply oil and gas in Romania. In the last 8 years, our investments for exploration and production activities amounted to around EUR 5.5 bn."

Casing drilling technique is used in the mining and water-well industries and began to be used in the oil industry in 2002. OMV Petrom introduced this technique in 2012 and has since used it successfully in 17 projects.

Casing drilling consists of combining the drilling and casing of one section of a well into a single operation. Advantages of casing drilling are the reduction of operational costs, reduction of drilling time and the reduction of incidents caused by stuck pipes.

Totea Deep field was identified in 2011, following a 3D seismic exploration program. The field is situated in the South-west of Romania, in Oltenia region, and might represent the most important onshore gas discovery in Romania in the last years.

Four wells have been drilled in the Totea Deep field until now and the field's production is 4,600 boe/day which represents around 5% of OMV Petrom gas production in Romania.

Petrom Group
Petrom is the largest oil and gas group in South-eastern Europe, with activities in the business segments of Exploration and Production, Gas and Power as well as Refining and Marketing. The Group consolidated its position on the oil market in Southeastern Europe following a far-reaching modernization and efficiency increase process whereas investments accounted for more than EUR 8.8 bn during the last eight years.

As of the end of 2012, the Group exploited proved oil and gas reserves of approximately 775 mn boe in Romania and Kazakhstan (thereof 750 mn boe in Romania). With a maximum annual refining capacity of 4.2 mn t, Petrom is present in the distribution market for oil products in Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia through a network of approximately 800 filling stations, operated under two brands, Petrom and OMV. In Romania, this activity is performed through OMV Petrom Marketing, 100% owned by OMV Petrom.

For its sustainable development, Petrom has expanded the gas value chain into power. In this context, Petrom started commercial operations of the 860 MW gas fired power plant at Brazi and at the Dorobantu 45 MW wind park.

In 2012, the Group's turnover was EUR 5,891 mn, EBIT was EUR 1,270 mn.

OMV, Austria's largest listed industrial company holds a 51.01% share in OMV Petrom. In Exploration and Production, OMV is active in two core countries Romania and Austria and holds a balanced international portfolio. In Gas and Power, OMV sold approximately 437 TWh of gas in 2012. In Refining and Marketing, OMV has an annual refining capacity of 22 mn t and approximately 4,400 filling stations in 13 countries including Turkey as of the end of 2012.

The Ministry of Economy holds 20.64% of OMV Petrom shares, the Property Fund holds 18.99%, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 1.62% and 7.74% is free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

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