The Cetatea de Baltă gas field is a

natural gas field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...

located in

Cetatea de Baltă Cetatea de Baltă (; ) is a commune in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The commune is composed of four villages: Cetatea de Baltă, Crăciunelu de Sus (''Christendorf''; ''Felsőkarácsonyfalva''), Sântămărie (''Frauenkirch''; ''Boldogfalva' ...

Alba County Alba County () is a county (județ) of Romania located in the historic region of Transylvania. Its capital is Alba Iulia, a city with a population of 63,536. Name "Alba", meaning "white" in Latin and Romanian, is derived from the name of the ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Discovered in 1900, it was developed by

Romgaz Societatea Națională de Gaze Naturale Romgaz SA Mediaș (SNGN Romgaz SA) or simply Romgaz is the largest natural gas producer in Romania and one of the largest producers in Eastern Europe. The company is the country's main supplier and responsib ...

, beginning production of

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

and condensates in 1910. By 2010 the total

proven reserves Proven reserves (also called measured reserves, 1P, and reserves) is a measure of fossil fuel energy reserves, such as oil and gas reserves and coal reserves. It is defined as the "quantity of energy sources estimated with reasonable certaint ...

of the Cetatea de Baltă gas field were around 1.42 trillion ft³ (40 km³), with a production rate of around 35 million ft³/day (1×10⁵ m³).

History

The discovery of natural gas in the

Transylvanian Basin The Transylvanian Plateau (; ) is a plateau in central Romania. Description The plateau lies within and takes its name from the historical region of Transylvania, and is almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern, Southern and Romanian Weste ...

in 1909 at Sărmașel led to the establishment in 1915 of the Hungarian Gas Company (U.E.G.), with headquarters in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. The company secured concession of the gas fields at Cetatea de Baltă, Șaroș,

Bazna Bazna (; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Baußen''; ) is a commune located in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bazna, Boian (''Bonnesdorf''; ''Bonnesdref''; ''Alsóbajom'') and Velț (''Wölz''; ''Welz''; ''Ve ...

Zau de Câmpie Zau de Câmpie (, Hungarian pronunciation:) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania composed of nine villages: Bărboși (''Mezőszakál''), Botei (''Botadűlő''), Bujor-Hodaie (''Bozsortanya''), Ciretea (''Bábod''), Gaura Sângerulu ...

Sânger Sânger ( ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania that is composed of seven villages: Bârza (''Borza''), Cipăieni (until 1996, Chimitelnic; ''Keménytelke''), Dalu (''Fodorkút''), Pripoare (''Pripora''), Sânger, Vălișoara (' ...

, Șincai,

Nadeș Nadeș (, Hungarian pronunciation: ; ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the ...

, and Teleac, in order to exploit and capitalize on those natural gas deposits. The

Union of Transylvania with Romania The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia. The Great Union Day (also called ''Unification Day''), celebrated on 1 December, is a Public holidays in Romani ...

at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

led to the seizure of the assets of U.E.G., whose majority capital was German. By 1955, the gas field at Cetatea de Baltă was connected to the national distribution network, supplying natural gas to the capital city,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. In 2017, the Cetatea de Baltă gas field facilities conducted a training exercise to practice emergency procedures in the event of gas well explosions or fires.

Underground gas storage

In April 2002 Romgaz completed an underground gas storage (UGS) site at the Cetatea de Baltă gas field as a prototype for large-scale natural gas storage. The natural gas extraction and storage processes were initially configured to support 8 wells before being expanded to 14. By 2006, additional UGS sites had been installed in

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

and at the gas fields of Sărmășel and

, with depths ranging from . In 2015, the German multinational electric utility company

E.ON E.ON SE is a European multinational electric utility company based in Essen, Germany. It operates as one of the world's largest investor-owned electric utility service providers. The name originates from the Latin word '' aeon'', derived from ...

signed an 11 million lei contract to store gas at the Cetatea de Baltă facility for one year. In 2018, Romgaz created a new subsidiary to manage the storage of natural gas at six additional UGS sites:

Bălăceanca Cernica is a commune in the southeast part of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, with a population of 11,871 as of 2021. It is composed of five villages: Bălăceanca, Căldăraru, Cernica, Poșta, and Tânganu. The commune is situated in the Wal ...

(0.55

TWh TWH or twh could refer to: * Tai Dón language, a language of Vietnam, Laos, and China * Tai Wo Hau station, Hong Kong; MTR station code * Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed of horse * Toronto Western Hospital, a hospital in Toronto, Canada * Tun ...

), Bilciurești (14.33 TWh), Cetatea de Baltă (0.65 TWh),

Ghercești Ghercești is a commune in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania with a population of 2,132 people as of 2021. It is composed of five villages: Gârlești, Ghercești, Luncșoru, Ungureni, and Ungurenii Mici. Natives * (1929–2010), communist politician ...

(1.63 TWh), Sărmășel (9.6 TWh), and

Urziceni Urziceni () is a municipiu, city in Ialomița County, Muntenia, Romania, located around north-east of Bucharest. Geography The city is situated at the western edge of the Bărăgan Plain, on the banks of the Ialomița (river), Ialomița River ...

(4.02 TWh).

References

Natural gas fields in Romania {{Romania-geo-stub

History

Underground gas storage

See also

References