The Neptun Alpha topside transported from Indonesia by GPO Heavylift’s semi-submersible heavy transport vessel GPO Emerald has been installed offshore for the Neptun Deep gas project in Romania’s Black Sea.
The topside was loaded at Saipem’s Karimun fabrication yard before GPO Emerald departed Indonesia on 2 June 2026 for transport to Romania.
Project developers OMV Petrom and S.N.G.N. Romgaz SA have completed the offshore installation of the Neptun Alpha platform, including its jacket, topsides and flare stack.
The platform was installed in water depths of about 120 m using the semi-submersible crane vessel Saipem 7000. The completed structure weighs approximately 16,500 t and stands more than 225 m high.
The jacket and flare stack were manufactured at Saipem’s Arbatax yard in Italy, while the topsides were built at the company’s Karimun yard in Indonesia. The jacket was secured to the seabed with eight piles, each measuring more than 2 m in diameter.
Neptun Alpha will process gas from the project’s reservoirs before transferring it through the pipeline system to shore. The topsides are fully automated and designed for remote operation.
Six of the project’s 10 development wells have been completed, along with installation of the pipeline to shore. Construction of the Tuzla gas measurement station and control building is continuing.
The next phase will cover further drilling, installation and integration of interfield subsea pipelines and umbilicals, connections between the offshore facilities and the transport pipeline, and system testing.
Production from Neptun Deep is scheduled to begin in 2027. The development covers the Pelican South and Domino fields and includes 10 wells, three subsea production systems, collector pipelines, the Neptun Alpha platform, a natural gas pipeline to Tuzla and a gas measurement station.
