2023-10-31 12:53:00
The Austrians at OMV want to distance themselves from their Russian partners at Gazprom and look for gas from other sources. OMV, until now dependent on Gazprom, is changing its gas purchase strategy, especially when the Ukrainians from Naftogaz have announced that they will no longer allow the transit of Russian gas in a year. Where do the Austrians now want to get their supplies from? Although the head of OMV did not make any reference to this, one source of supply could be the gases from the Black Sea, which OMV Petrom and Romgaz would exploit.
The meeting between Ciolacu and OMV bossesPhoto: Government
“Gas supplies from Russia are unreliable and pose a much greater risk than in the past,” said Alfred Stern, the head of the Austrian company OMV, on Tuesday, according to BNN Breaking. He stated, according to Der Standard, that other suppliers were found in Norway and Italy. Long-term supply contracts for liquefied gas from a terminal in Rotterdam have also been concluded.
“We have secured, through contracts, quantities of non-Russian gas, partly from our own production, partly from contracts with third parties,” said Alfred Stern.
OMV has benefited massively from high oil and gas prices and Stern described 2022 as “unique and extraordinary”. However, this year things have changed, in the third quarter a significant decrease was recorded at the operational level and in the net income. Profit fell by 64%, up to 431 million euros.
And Romanian gas is in the sights of the Austrians
We remind you that Alfred Stern paid a visit to Bucharest in mid-September, in order to negotiate with the representatives of the Government the modification of the Offshore Law. The Austrians asked the Romanian Government to be able to have more freedom in the export of gas from the Black Sea to the west. The Offshore Act, as it stands now, prevents exports.
Officials of the Austrian company OMV failed to obtain from the Romanian Government the modification of the Offshore Law. A statement from the Government showed that Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu conveyed to the OMV delegation that he hoped that the attitude of the Austrian Prime Minister, Karl Nehammer, to continue to completely unjustifiably oppose Romania’s accession to Schengen, would not affect “the image of OMV Petrom in Romania”.
In exchange for the gas export facilities, OMV offered to waive the lawsuit opened at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris – ICC against the Romanian state. But, according to HotNews.ro information, this is a process with very low chances of being won by OMV and is only meant to put pressure on the Romanian Government.
In June, OMV Petrom sued the Romanian state at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris – ICC, claiming certain provisions of the offshore law that impose some limits on how it can dispose of natural gas production from the Sea Black.
Christina Verchere: We are working at full speed on the Neptun Deep project
The Neptun Deep project in the Black Sea is progressing according to plan and we will continue to work at full speed so that we can start production safely in early 2027, he said in an interview on Tuesday AGERPRESChristina Verchere, general manager of OMV Petrom.
She emphasized that the project is in the phase of awarding contracts and obtaining the necessary approvals, and it is being handled by an international team with experience in deep-sea projects.
The transit through Ukraine of Russian gas will be stopped
The president of Naftogaz accuses the Russians of Gazprom of not paying according to the contract, which creates financial problems for the Ukrainian company. In addition, the EU plans to completely stop the consumption of Russian gas by 2027, the head of Naftogaz also said.
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