Free way for private investments in energetic infrastructure

The legislative changes proposed by the National Agency for Mineral Resources (NAMR), authority in domain, insert the differentiation between the national system of oil transport and the national tanker terminal against this type of private units. In this purpose there are proposed changes that will allow the achievement of transportation systems for hydrocarbons in private regime.

Rompetrol, held by KazMunaiGas, is one of the companies that will benefit of these legislative changes, which will finalize this year the construction works for the marine tanker terminal from the Black Sea. The marine terminal will be build at 8,7 km in high seas of Black Sea, near the Petromidia refinery and will allow the ships to load or unload crude oil using an accosting swimming system connected to a submarine and dried tube, which makes the bond with the deposit parks of crude oil of the refinery.  This project shortens with about 33 km the access way of the earth oil on the tube between tanker and refinery, achieving in the same time reductions in price with three dollars per ton.

Rompetrol competes with Oil Terminal

The full transfer capacity of the terminal will be of 14 millions tons of earth oil per year. The project is financed from own sources of the company, the investment being estimated to over 90 millions dollars.

The terminal will allow the access in the area of Midia port of the big tone ships  and will be the only competitor which assures this type of services, respective Oil Terminal Constanta, held by the state.

The operation of the oil transport systems and tanker terminals will be exclusively realized in regime of public property, following that this activity to be leased to the private owner of the systems, according to NAMR.  

In the same time, NAMR proposes that the operations of oil transport by the national system on the fields near the public property of the state and of the territorial administrative units regardless off the authority of which belongs to be realized with free title by Conpet Constanta, the state company which assures these services.

Private deposits of natural gases

Another NAMR proposal aims the concession of underground storage activity of the gases towards the titular of the tankers agreements which carry on activities at the valid entrance date of the normative act and for the deposits that will be built in the future, by public offers. Gaz de France, the majority shareholder of the distribution company of natural gases Distrigaz Sud, is the first private investor from the storage market of natural gases, second the acquisition of the majority packet of shares at Depomures with a capacity of 300 millions cubic meters of gas, at which adds the Amgaz deposit, of 40 millions of cubic meters of gas. Gaz de France announced that intends to reach in five years to a storage capacity of natural gases of 600 millions cubic meters, in increase with 70% against the present capacity. The investment is estimated to about 130 millions euro. Also, the concession of the storage operations for natural gases will increase the security of assuring the supply for gases in the periods with high consume, and would be used for the storage of gases or other fluids underground cavity as a result of some mining exploitations activities. Another reason taken into account by NAMR at the change project for the oil law is represented by the taxes which some local authorities impose to the national system of oil transport, which is a part of the public property of the state, to the access on fields of the public domain.  NAMR estimates for 2008 incomes from taxes, and mining and oil due in increase with 11% against last year, from 900 millions lei to one billion lei.