ROMANIA: Petrom will spend up to 300 million euros per year on the carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects it is committed to
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OMV Petrom, the largest energy company in South-Eastern Europe, will in the following years allocate around 150 million euros per year and up to 300 million euros per year for CCS projects, but the company draws attention that it is need for the intervention of the authorities, including support schemes for the development of these projects.
“As you know, we have CCS (carbon capture and storage) as a target in the strategy, we have an allocation of two million tons per year of capacity, starting in 2030. It is an ambitious target” , said Cristian Hubati, director of the exploration and production area of OMV Petrom, responding to a question asked by the press on this topic.
“The maturation of CCS projects has the allure of classic oil and gas projects, with exploration, and these are quite long in time. We have budgeted amounts in the range of 100-150 million euros between the years 2026-2027 as well as CAPEX (investments – ed.). They will increase in the coming years, in order to implement the strategy, somewhere towards 200-300 million euros as an annual average. For the implementation of storage projects, however, as you know, we need a legislative framework, we need the part of regulations on transport, on emitters, support schemes. We really need the support of the authorities”, said Hubati.
We remind you that oil and gas producers in Romania will be obliged, at the level of 2030, to ensure in the country a carbon dioxide storage capacity in Romania that will ensure the underground storage of 9 million tons of CO2 per year. The obligation resides in the NZIA (Net-Zero Industry Act), a European regulation by which Romania is assigned 9 of the 50 million tons per year, carbon storage capacity at the level of the entire European Union, a target that must be met by 2030 .
It is the second highest share in the EU, after that of the Netherlands.
How much would it cost to implement a carbon storage capacity of 9 million tons per year? It is not yet very clear, the CCUS (Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage) technology is still in its infancy, but one of the experts of the Employers’ Federation of Oil and Gas (FPPG), made, at the request of the press, a rough calculation – just ensuring a capacity of storage of 9 million tons per year, for 20 years, would cost the two Romanian companies around 4.5 billion euros. And the entire value chain – storage, transport and disposal – would cost around 15 billion euros. So collected, 20 billion euros, roughly.
In its strategy, Petrom talks about the “competitive advantages in CO2 storage” that it has: “detailed knowledge of geological structures, access to long-term on- & offshore storage potential, skills developed for early market positioning”. But it shows that there are some essential premises, namely: “favorable regulatory framework, economic viability of projects, financing schemes and market demand”.
