One of the major stages in the development of Romania’s biggest natural gas project has been completed

photo: pixabay.com

Corina Cristea,
21.07.2026, 14:00

The state-owned Romgaz and OMV Petrom, the largest integrated energy producer in South-Eastern Europe, have completed one of the important stages in the development of the largest natural gas project in Romania: the Neptun Deep offshore production platform has been installed in the Black Sea. Placed in an area with approximately 120m deep waters, “Neptun Alpha” weighs 16,500 tons and is over 225 m tall.

“Neptun Deep is a strategic project for Romania, which will contribute to the country’s energy security and reduce reliance on imports. The installation of the production platform in the Black Sea is one of the most important stages of the project, and confirms its constant progress,” the OMV Petrom CEO Christina Verchere said in a statement. “We have also completed 6 of the 10 development wells, installed the 160 km pipeline to the shore. The development of the project continues with the installation of flow lines and subsea systems between the fields to connect the offshore elements, followed by thorough testing, in preparation for production estimated to begin in 2027.”

The platform was installed with the help of Saipem 7000, the world’s third-largest semi-submersible crane vessel, which uses advanced offshore lifting and positioning technology. The support structure was fixed onto the seabed with 8 pylons, each over 2 m in diameter. The platform, which will ensure the processing of natural gas and its routing to the transport infrastructure that will bring it to shore, is fully unmanned and self-powered, and will be managed remotely.

“Neptun Deep marks successive major achievements that will contribute to Romania’s energy security. The Neptun Alpha offshore production platform was installed at the highest safety standards, and follows the completion of the flow line installation stage,” the Romgaz CEO Răzvan Popescu said in turn.

The Neptun Deep production infrastructure features 10 wells on the Pelican Sud and Domino fields, three subsea production systems, flow lines, an offshore platform, a natural gas pipeline to Tuzla and a measurement station.

In the coming period the project enters a new stage, focused on connecting all system components: carrying on the drilling of production wells, installing and integrating the subsea infrastructure, connecting offshore installations to the pipeline, as well as extensive testing. (AMP)