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Prime Minister Victor Ponta, in the middle of a
presidential campaign ahead of a Nov. 16 runoff which he is
expected to win, said on Sunday that Romania had "fought very
hard for something that we do not have." He did not elaborate.
Like its emerging European Union peer Poland, Romania has opened
the door to firms seeking to discover shale gas, hoping to
mirror a boom in cheap energy seen in the United States.
"Chevron is analysing the data gathered during its drilling and
seismic operations to further understand the resource potential
of natural gas from shale," Chevron told Reuters.
"When the analysis has been completed, the results will be
provided to the National Agency of Mineral Resources (NAMR) and
will remain in the (Romanian) state's custody."
Romania is the third most energy-independent EU member.
Earlier this year, Chevron said it finalised exploration works
at a well in the eastern Romanian village of Pungesti, after
repeatedly postponing operations because of protests from local
residents.
Chevron also has rights for three licence blocks in Romania near
the Black Sea, supporting a drive to find alternative gas
resources which has become more urgent since the conflict broke
out in Ukraine, through which Russia sends half of its gas
exports to the EU.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated Romania
could potentially hold 51 trillion cubic feet of shale gas,
which would cover domestic demand for more than a century.
(Reporting by Radu Marinas, editing by Louise Heavens and David
Evans)
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