The Șaroș gas field is a natural gas field located in Dumbrăveni, Sibiu 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 Șaroș gas field were around 2.84 trillion ft3 (80 km3), with a production rate of around 70 million ft3/day (2×105 m3).[1]

Șaroș
CountryRomania
RegionSibiu County
LocationDumbrăveni
Offshore/onshoreonshore
OperatorRomgaz
Field history
Discovery1915
Start of development1915
Start of production1930
Production
Current production of gas2×10^6 m3/d
70×10^6 cu ft/d 0.72×10^9 m3/a (25×10^9 cu ft/a)
Estimated gas in place80×10^9 m3
2.84×10^12 cu ft

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 

There are numerous mentions attesting natural gas emanations in the Transylvanian Plateau.[6] The existence of natural gas in Transylvania was known since the 17th century; people in Bazna were often puzzled by "inextinguishable fires".[7] In his 1929 Ph.D. dissertation,[8] geologist Augustin Vancea [ro] mentions the unquenchable fires at Șaroș, Bazna, and Copșa Mică.[9]: 6 

The oldest deposits exploited by Romgaz are in Mureș County, where gas has been extracted since 1913.[2] In the interwar period, Romania's program of geological works and drilling was amplified, with additional investment poured into extracting gas deposits from Copșa Mică, Bazna, Șaroș, and Șincai.[10][11] The Transylvanian gas fields occur along the central domes that arose by the folding of the Miocene and Pliocene beds in the Transylvanian Basin. At the Șaroș gas field, the initial rock pressure of the thirteen completed wells ranged from 400 to 715 pounds per square inch, corresponding with a range in depth from 640 to 1,255 feet.[12] The Șaroș gas field was connected by a pipeline with the Noul Săsesc gas field, thus increasing the output of the latter field, which had been heavily tapped out during the winter, due to high consumption.[13] Eventually, the Șaroș gas field was connected to the national network, supplying natural gas to the capital city, Bucharest.[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Industria de gaze naturale in perioada interbelica" (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. ^ Coloja, Pascu Mihai; Dinu, Florinel (January 1, 2009). "About 100 years of the Romanian gas industry: 1909–2009. | Annals of DAAAM & Proceedings". Annals of DAAAM & Proceedings, 2009: 1,828. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  7. ^ Carter, F. W. (April 1970). "Natural gas in Romania". Geography. 55 (2). Taylor & Francis: 214–220. JSTOR 40567242.
  8. ^ Vancea, Augustin (1929). Observațiuni geologice în regiunea de sud-west a Câmpiei Ardelene: cu o privire generală asupra geologiei Basinului Transilvaniei și cu descrierea specială a domului de gaz natural de la Zaul de Câmpie (Moinești) (PhD thesis) (in Romanian). Mediaș. 67 pages, 54 annexes.
  9. ^ Spulber, Liana (2010). Emisii geogene de metan în Transilvania și implicațiile lor asupra mediului înconjurător [Geogenic methane emissions in Transylvania and their implications on the environment] (PhD thesis) (in Romanian). Cluj-Napoca: Babeș-Bolyai University. 45 pages.
  10. ^ "Situație absurdă. Combinatul creat lângă zăcăminte, distrus de facturile la gazul metan iar compania de gaz nu mai are consum din lipsa fabricilor". www.tirnaveni.ro. April 27, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  11. ^ Petrescu, Roxana (April 27, 2018). "Ce se va întâmpla cu gazele naturale ale României? Totul depinde de capacitatea intelectuală a autorităților". Ziarul Financiar (in Romanian). Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  12. ^ Gărdescu, Ionel I. (1934). "Geology of Natural Gas in Roumania". AAPG Bulletin. 18 (7): 871–891. doi:10.1306/3D932C4E-16B1-11D7-8645000102C1865D.
  13. ^ Jordan, Constantin (1955). The Romanian Methane Gas Industry. Mid-European Studies Center, Free Europe Committee. p. 38.
  14. ^ "Dracula Had Gas". www.oilystuff.com. 11 April 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2024.