Petrom increases the natural gas supply to the Romanian consumers

• Additional supply of 200 mn m3 of natural gas stored during the summer of 2005
• Evaluation of the possibilities to rise the gas supply up to 18.4 mn m3 / day

Petrom, the largest oil and gas producer in South Eastern Europe, increases the natural gas amount that is to be delivered to the Romanian consumers by providing them with the gas quantity stored during the summer of 2005. In order to secure the best conditions for the gas supply during the cold winter, Petrom will increase the daily delivered volumes of 14.15 mn m³ by up to 3.4 mn m3 in January and February, thus namely approximately 200 mn m3. “The recent low temperatures and the reduction in the imported gas volume, made us introduce a series of measures meant to improve the current situation of the gas supply to the Romanian consumers. We currently evaluate the possibility to increase the supply even further to 18.4 mn m³/day for January and February”, stated Mr. Gheorghe Constantinescu, Chief Executive Officer of Petrom.

The additional amount of 200 mn m3 can be ensured due to the storage in underground facilities of a total of 485 mn m3 during the summer of 2005. The expenses for the storage of this gas volume were exclusively borne by the company so that the stored gas should be used in circumstances similar to the current ones.

Presently, the company evaluates the possibilities to increase the natural gas supply to the Romanian market to 18.4 mn m³/day (an additional volume of 55 mn m3) of gas in January and February. Petrom thus requested SNGN ROMGAZ, the operator of the gas underground storage facilities, that it should reorganize the distribution of the amounts that were originally to be extracted in March 2006, so that the total additional quantity, supplied to the Romanian market, in January and February, can reach 4.3 mn m3 of natural gas/day.

Background Information
Petrom SA
Petrom is the largest Romanian oil and gas group, with activities in the business segments of Exploration and Production, Refining and Petrochemicals, as well as Sales and Marketing. Petrom has estimated oil and gas reserves of 1 billion boe, refining capacity of 8 million metric tons and 600 filling stations. In 2004 the sales revenue of Petrom was EUR 2,143 million, EBITDA was EUR 28 million. Since December 2004 OMV, the leading oil and gas group in Central Europe holds a 51% share in Petrom. OMV is active in Refining and Marketing, Exploration and Production, Gas as well as Chemicals in 28 countries on five continents. The Romanian state holds 40.74% of Petrom shares, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2.03% and 6.23% are owned by minority shareholders.