Announcement of Romania to Implement Advanced Enhanced Oil Recovery Technique with World Bank Assistance on May 24, 1982

' FOR 1MMEDIATE RELEASE ::,.world Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 82/93 Contact: Melhem Salman May 24, 1982 (202) 477-5328 ROMANIA TO IMPLEMENT ADVANCED ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY TECHNIQUE WITH WORLD BANK ASS I STANCE 11 ' ii Romania plans to increase oil production from two important fields with World Bank assistance. A loan of $101.5 million will help finance the introduction,of the in-situ combus.tion process, ofcc;,:an advanced technique for enhancing oil recovery from these fields, the World Bank announced today. The project will cost about $454.2 million. Production at the two fields, Videle and Bal aria, located 45 .kilometers west-· southwest of Bucharest, has been declining in recent years, despite the extensive application of conventional secondary recovery techniques (i.e., water and gas injection). The use of this technique is expected to result in increasing the ultimate oil recovery from about 15% under current techniques to about 39% of the oil initially in place in the reservoirs. This would result in an annual incremental production, at full development of the Bank-assisted enhanced oil recovery project in 1986, equ~-. :. valent to roughly 10% of the country's current net oil imports, thereby saving some $200 million (in 1981 dollars) a year in foreign exchange. The project includes the drilling of about 910 wells for air injection and oil production and· the construction of 24 oil and gas separation centers, nine of which wi 11 be equipped with water injection faCi 1ities. One central oil treatment, storage, and pumping facility for handling oil and oil- water emulsions will also be constructed. Other project works include: the construction of a facility to treat water before reinjection into the reservoir, the construction of air injection facilities, and the laying of approximately 1,300 kilometers of pipelines for air and water injection, gas supply, and fluid collection and disposal, power substations and dis- tribution lines, and access roads. In addition, engineering and technical ~ervices as well as laboratory and field monitoring instruments will be supplied. The World Bank loan will be made to the Investment Bank of Romania, with the guarantee of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It is for 15 years, including three years of grace, with interest at 11.6% a year; it also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.75% on undisbursed balances, and includes a front-end fee of 1.5% on the amount of the loan. :. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.