Miercurea Nirajului gas field

Miercurea Nirajului
CountryRomania
RegionMureș County
Offshore/onshoreonshore
OperatorRomgaz
Field history
Discovery1915
Start of development1915
Start of production1930
Production
Current production of gas1,000×10^3 m3/d
35×10^6 cu ft/d 0.36×10^9 m3/a (13×10^9 cu ft/a)
Estimated gas in place40×10^9 m3
1.42×10^12 cu ft

The Miercurea Nirajului gas field is a natural gas field located in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureș County, Romania. Discovered in 1915, it was developed by Romgaz, beginning production of natural gas and condensates in 1930. By 2010 the total proven reserves of the Miercurea Nirajului gas field were around 1.42 trillion ft3 (40 km3), with a production rate of around 35 million ft3/day (1×105 m3).[1]

The gas deposits in Romania have a very long history of exploitation, almost unique at the level of Europe and among the few such old fields that are still in production in the world.[2] A quarter of Romania's natural gas reserves (100 billion m3 (3.5 trillion cu ft)) are located in Western Moldavia, Muntenia, and the Black Sea, with the remaining 75% located near methane gas reserve sites in Transylvania.[3] A fifth of these sites are located in the Giurgeu-Brașov Depression and Sibiu County, with the remainder located in Mureș County at sites such as Luduș, Șincai, Bazna, and Nadeș.[4]: 76 [5]: 102 

While most of the aforementioned Mureș County gas fields have had continuous production with declining reserves for decades, several have had their estimated reserves expanded following the discovery of additional gas, such as at Bogata, Ilimbav, Tăuni, Teleac, and Filitelnic.[6]

The oldest deposits exploited by Romgaz are in Mureș County, where gas has been extracted since 1913.[2] In 2008, Romgaz allocated 5.8 million leis for preparatory work, drilling, and production tests at the exploitation well 140 at the Miercurea Nirajului gas field, on a plot near Moșuni village.[7] In November 2021, the Romanian Agency for Mineral Resources [ro] announced that the Romgaz lease of the gas field had been extended until December 2027.[8]

  1. ^ "Industria de gaze naturale in perioada interbelică" (PDF). Muzeul Gazelor. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  2. ^ a b Benea, Ionuț (December 28, 2022). "De ce a scăzut producția de gaze în 2022 și cât de vechi sunt zăcămintele exploatate de România" [Why gas production decreased in 2022 and how old are the fields exploited by Romania]. romania.europalibera.org (in Romanian). Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  3. ^ "Top 10 câmpuri petrolifere și gazeifere cu cea mai mare producție din România". www.economica.net (in Romanian). March 15, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  4. ^ Berekmeri, Maria-Erzsebet (2006). "Built infrastructure disparities in Romania" (PDF). Romanian Review of Regional Studies. 2 (2): 74–80.
  5. ^ Pop, Andreea (2011). "The impact of the territory's public infrastructural level on the organization of the territory in the Reghin micro-region" (PDF). Geographica Timisiensis. 20 (2): 99–112. Archived from the original on 2018-05-02. Retrieved 2024-01-23.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ Velcea, Ion (1975). Geografia economică a R. S. România (in Romanian). University of Bucharest. p. 39. OCLC 254706929.
  7. ^ "Romgaz investește 5,8 mil. lei intr-o sondă din județul Mureș". Wall-Street.ro (in Romanian). October 22, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  8. ^ Ionescu, Matei (November 3, 2021). "Romgaz a obținut prelungirea concesiunii pe 12 perimetre de hidrocarburi, unde ar fi găsit resurse suplimentare de gaze". economedia.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved January 26, 2024.