BLACKSTAIRS ENERGY plc
PRESS RELEASE
ROMANIA, 8th ROUND OF LICENCING
Blackstairs Energy – Successful Bidder on 7 Production Blocks
Dublin, April 7th 2008
The National Agency for Mineral Resources (NAMR) has announced the
results of the 8th Round of Licencing. Under the terms of the Round,
twenty-six Production Blocks were offered to the industry on a
competitive bidding basis. The individual Production Blocks are over
formerly producing oil and gas fields and were operated by Romanian
state companies.
Blackstairs Energy plc applied for nine of the Production Blocks on
offer. NAMR has advised that the company has submitted the winning
bids on seven of these blocks. The Licencing procedures and Concession
Agreements grant Blackstairs exclusive rights to re-develop the fields
and to apply for Production Licences on completion of the agreed field
evaluation programme. The various technical programmes are designed to
reinstate the individual fields to commercial oil and gas production.
Five of the fields- Salacea, Saniob, Ciutelec, Bogeiu and Chet- are
located in the Pannonian Basin, a prolific oil and gas producing area
in north-western Romania. A sixth Production Block – the Postavari gas
field – is located 20 kilometres south of the capital city Bucharest
in the Moesian Platform basin. The seventh Block- the Dolani-Tatarani
gas field- lies at the boundary of the Getic Depression and the
Diapiric Fold Zone, some 85 kilometres north-west of Bucharest
Blackstairs, at NAMR’s invitation, will now enter formal technical and
contractual discussions in order to finalise the terms of Petroleum
Concession Agreements over each of the seven Production Blocks. A
period of up to six months is set aside by the NAMR to complete these
formalities. Blackstairs has proposed technical programmes of
reservoir and petroleum engineering studies, seismic acquisition and
processing, and re-evaluation and reprocessing of existing field
data. The company will also undertake work`over of previously
producing wells, the drilling of new field development wells and the
refurbishment of surface production facilities and pipeline
infrastructure. Environmental assessment projects and technology
transfer programmes will also be completed.
Romania is a significant oil and gas producer and has a well-developed
oilfield infrastructure including an extensive pipeline network and
refining capacity.
PANNONIAN BASIN PRODUCTION BLOCKS
FIELD / County / Block Area (Ha) / Hydrocarbon Type
CHET BIHOR 224 Ha Crude oil & Associated Gas
CIUTELEC BIHOR 141 Ha Crude Oil
BOGEIU BIHOR 60 Ha Crude Oil
SANIOB BIHOR 1293 Ha Crude Oil & Associated Gas
SALACEA BIHOR 422 Ha Non`Associated Gas & Condensate
SOUTHERN ROMANIA PRODUCTION BLOCKS
FIELD / County / Block Area (Ha) / Hydrocarbon Type
POSTAVARI CALARASI 540 Ha Non-associated Gas
DOLANI`TATARANI DAMBOVITA 403 Ha Non-associated Gas
Note to Editors:
Blackstairs Energy plc is an Irish company involved in hydrocarbon
exploration and production and associated energy and resource
evaluation activities. The company is actively exploring three large
blocks in the Republic of Armenia under an Exploration & Production
Sharing Agreement. Blackstairs (50%) is the Armenia licence operator
in a joint-venture with Vangold Resources Limited, a Canadian natural
resource company.
Blackstairs was founded in 2006 by Gerry Sheehan (Managing Director)
and Bob Hamilton (Finance Director). Gerry is a geologist and
geophysicist and has been involved in the international oil industry
since 1982. From 1987 to 2006 he held various senior technical and
management positions in Tullow Oil plc including International
Exploration Manager and New Ventures Manager. Bob is a chartered
accountant with broad experience in the natural resource sector; he
was previously Group Financial Controller with Tullow Oil plc.
Additional Information
Please contact:
Gerry Sheehan
Managing Director
Phone: +353 86 6085345
Email: [email protected]
Company Contact Details:
Blackstairs Energy plc
Regus House
Harcourt Centre
Harcourt Road
Dublin 2
Republic of Ireland
Telephone: +353 1 477 3032