The Teleac 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 Gornești,

Mureș County Mureș County (, , ) is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative reor ...

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 1915, 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 1930. 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 Teleac gas field were around 1.06 trillion ft³ (30 km³), with a production rate of around 23.8 million ft³/day (0.67×10⁵ m³). The gas deposits in

have a very long history of exploitation, almost unique at the level of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and among the few such old fields that are still in production in the world. A quarter of Romania's natural gas reserves () are located in

Western Moldavia Western Moldavia (, ''Moldova de Apus'', or , also known as Moldavia, is the core historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1878, the P ...

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

, and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

, with the remaining 75% located near

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

gas reserve sites in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. A fifth of these sites are located in the

Giurgeu-Brașov Depression The Giurgeu-Brașov Depression (in Romanian, ''Depresiunea Giurgeu-Brașovului'') is a series of intermontane basins in Romania. The basin is considered part of the Inner Eastern Carpathians. Within Romania, however, it is traditional to divide ...

and

Sibiu County Sibiu County () is a county () of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Its county seat () is the namesake town of Sibiu (). Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szeben megye'', and in German as ''Kreis Hermannstadt''. Under the ...

, with the remainder located in Mureș County at sites such as

Luduș Luduș (; Hungarian: ''Marosludas'' or ''Ludas''; Hungarian pronunciation: , German: ''Ludasch'') is a town in Transylvania, Romania in Mureș County, south-west from the county's capital, Târgu Mureș. Six villages are administered by the to ...

Șincai Șincai (, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania composed of four villages: Lechincioara (''Kislekence''), Pusta (''Feketepuszta''), Șincai, and Șincai-Fânațe (''Édeságtelek''). Demographics The c ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. 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,

Miercurea Nirajului Miercurea Nirajului ( ) is a town in Mureș County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. The following seven villages are administered by the town: Beu (''Székelybő''), Dumitreștii (''Demeter ...

, and Filitelnic. The oldest deposits exploited by Romgaz are in Mureș County, where gas has been extracted since 1913. The discovery of

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 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 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' ...

, Șaroș,

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 (' ...

, 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.

References

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

See also

References