Romania's Petrom Co. announced Monday it has discovered natural gas and condensed gas reserves in eastern Romania, and exploitation could start by the end of 2007.

The company estimates that, once exploited, the field's daily production of natural gas and condensed gas could reach 130,000 cubic meters and 11 tons, respectively.

"We intend to begin the development stage quite soon, and we expect production to start in late 2007 or early 2008," said Werner Ladwein, a senior Petrom executive.

According to the exploration outcome, Petrom will continue prospecting the area, the company said.

Petrom, ranked as Romania's biggest energy company, has an annual refining capacity of eight million tons and a distribution network of more than 550 stations across Romania. It also controls an international network of about 100 gas stations in neighboring countries.

International statistics show that Romania has an annual production of about 13 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

Source: Xinhua