Silcotub becomes first Romanian buyer to pre-contract gas from Neptun Deep

Industrial buyer secures future supply

Silcotub SA has contracted in advance a considerable share of future natural gas production from Neptun Deep, becoming the first Romanian customer disclosed for the flagship offshore project in the Black Sea, Libertatea reported. The contracted volume, price, delivery schedule and duration were not disclosed.

Silcotub, controlled by Tenaris, is Romania’s largest producer of seamless steel pipe, according to Profit.ro as cited by Libertatea. The agreement is intended to provide the company with greater predictability over long-term energy costs and direct access to a stable source of gas. That matters for a steel producer whose operations require continuous, energy-intensive processes.

Official environmental filings show that Silcotub’s steelworks in Călărași alone used more than 6.5 million cubic metres of natural gas last year, equivalent to approximately 69,000 MWh. Gas is injected into the electric furnace and is also used to preheat casting ladles and distributors. The group’s Romanian industrial footprint also includes its main pipe plant in Zalău and a sucker-rod production facility in Câmpina.

Neptun Deep builds its customer base

The Silcotub agreement adds a major domestic industrial consumer to the project’s initial customer portfolio. OMV Petrom has also signed Neptun Deep gas sales contracts with Germany’s Uniper and Energocom of the Republic of Moldova. The disclosed buyers therefore span Romanian industry, a large European energy company and Moldova’s energy market, although the supplied quantities and commercial terms were not stated.

Neptun Deep is the largest natural gas development in Romania’s section of the Black Sea, with estimated resources of approximately 100 billion cubic metres. OMV Petrom and state-controlled Romgaz are investing up to €4 billion in the development phase. The project comprises 10 wells at the Pelican Sud and Domino fields, three subsea production systems, a gas pipeline to Tuzla and a metering station.

Construction advances toward first production

The partners recently completed installation of the Neptun Alpha offshore platform. A 160-kilometre subsea pipeline has also been completed, while construction of the Tuzla metering station continues. Former energy minister Bogdan Ivan said on Saturday, July 25, that Romania was rapidly approaching extraction of the first molecule of Black Sea gas. The source did not provide a specific start-up date.

For Silcotub, the pre-sale links a major domestic gas development directly to heavy manufacturing. The company reported net profit of more than 227 million lei in 2025 on total revenue of 3.46 billion lei and maintained an average workforce of approximately 1,850 employees. For Romania, adding an industrial buyer alongside Uniper and Energocom indicates that Neptun Deep’s future production is being positioned across both domestic consumption and regional sales. The commercial impact will ultimately depend on contracted volumes, pricing formulas and delivery dates, none of which have been disclosed.