60m-euro EBRD loan for Petrom in Kazakhstan

SNP Petrom will contract a 60 million-euro loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), to be used for its oil operations in Kazakhstan, general manager Gheorghe Constantinescu told Ziarul Financiar. “Petrom is in advanced talks with EBRD for a loan to be contracted by mid this year,” Constantinescu said. He announced soon after his appointment a year ago that Petrom’s strategy targeted, among others, cutting the investment recovery period for the perimeters operated in Kazakhstan in order to turn a profit as soon as possible. To that end, the company will speed up investments in the aforementioned area, where it operates three perimeters. One of the deposits has been exploited for over a year, yielding 200 tonnes/day, given that the deposits were estimated at approximately 10-20 million tonnes of oil by mid last year. Petrom’s oil output in Kazakhstan is sold entirely on the foreign markets. Production is scheduled to begin on the other two deposits this year, according to the latest available data. Petrom intends to expand its international oil drilling and production operations. The company’s oil output on the domestic market amounts to 5.8 million tonnes a year, while the gas output reaches approximately 6 billion cubic metres, derived from offshore and mainland perimeters. ZF