Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in a meeting this week with U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry urged the Trump administration to push Exxon Mobile to get started on developing the Domino-1 gas field in the Black Sea. In contrast to Germany, which is cementing dependence on Russian gas with the Nord Stream II pipeline, Hungary is pushing for energy independence from Moscow.
Domino-1 is controlled by Exxon and Romania’s Petrom, a subsidiary of Austrian firm OMV. Discovered off Romania in 2012 with estimated gas reserves of 1.5-3 trillion cubic feet, the companies have since sought greater clarity from Romanian authorities before developing the field.
Exxon said in January it was continuing to evaluate the project, pinning its final investment decision on factors including “competitive and stable fiscal terms for existing offshore concessions for the duration of the agreements,” reported Investing.com.
Import-reliant Hungary gets most of its gas from Russia and Russian firm Rosatom is involved in a 12.5-billion-euro expansion of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power plant, the country’s main domestic source of electricity.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has shown a more friendly tone towards Moscow as the globalist EU continues to force migrants and cultural Marxism on Central Europe. The Visegrad Group of nations is resisting this pressure fearing a loss of their culture and security. The EU Parliament has initiated ‘infringement procedures’ against nations of the bloc, or legal action, to force compliance with Brussels.
