OMV Petrom SA and NewMed Power LP have signed a deal to promote 10 % within the Han Asparuh exploration block on Bulgaria’s facet of the Black Sea to state-owned Bulgarian Power Holding EAD (BEH) following a authorities order.
The Bulgarian parliament had directed the Power Ministry to have as much as 20 % of the license transferred to a government-owned company, NewMed Power stated in a inventory submitting.
Operator OMV Petrom, an built-in vitality firm with investments from Austria’s state-backed OMV AG and the Romanian authorities, and equal co-owner NewMed Power, an Israeli pure gas-focused explorer and producer, have now agreed to promote 5 % every to BEH, in line with the regulatory disclosure.
The Bulgarian authorities nonetheless must approve the sale settlement and the businesses have to amend the “joint working settlement” for Han Asparuh earlier than the sale could possibly be accomplished, NewMed Power stated.
Below the sale settlement, “the events agreed to work collectively vis-à-vis the Bulgarian authorities and the Bulgarian Ministry of Power in reference to amendments to the ordinance for figuring out the concession royalty funds for the manufacturing of underground sources and extension of the interval of the appraisal drillings within the undertaking to 2 years in lieu of 1 yr”, NewMed Power stated.
“It’s famous on this context that on 8 December 2025, the Bulgarian Ministry of Power launched a draft of recent laws for figuring out royalty funds to the Bulgarian authorities, that are decided by multiplying the financial worth of annual manufacturing by the royalty charge payable to the federal government”.
“It’s additional proposed to determine within the draft laws a minimal annual royalty cost obligation”, NewMed Power added.
BEH has agreed to pay NewMed Power and OMV Petrom its proportionate share of the price of drilling preparations, NewMed Power stated.
A two-well marketing campaign costing round EUR 170 million ($199.18 million) is being progressed, in line with OMV Petrom. In an internet replace December 15, 2025, it stated drilling for the primary of the 2, Vinekh-1, was anticipated to start out by the top of 2025.
The marketing campaign – together with the second nicely, Krum-1 – is predicted to take 4 months, in line with an internet assertion by OMV Petrom on July 22, 2025 asserting the award of the drillship contract to Noble Corp.
Exploration within the block began 2012. Three wells have been drilled since in Han Asparuh, which sits south of the Neptun Deep fuel undertaking on the Romanian a part of the Black Sea, in line with OMV Petrom. OMV Petrom is growing Neptun Deep as operator with a 50 % stake, the opposite half owned by Romania’s majority state-owned Romgaz.
To contact the writer, e mail jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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