Germany has given the green light for drilling as much as 13 billion cubic meters (Bbcm) of natural gas at a protected marine site in the North Sea in a controversial step to bolster energy security.
Ecopetrol is racing to develop new gas sources as the nation’s dwindling reserves force increased imports to supply homes and factories. President Gustavo Petro’s administration has halted new exploration contracts since taking office in 2022, which means drillers must squeeze value from existing assets.
OMV Petrom and ROMGAZ have begun drilling the first gas production well for the Neptun Deep project, OMV said on Tuesday.
Located in the Pelican South field, the well will contribute approximately 8 bcm annually to Romania’s gas production once plateau production is reached, OMV said.
First gas is estimated for 2027.
The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday.
The total rig count fell by 2 to 588 this week, compared to 682 rigs this same time last year.