Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.23
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Austrian integrated oil and gas company OMV Group is closely monitoring the situation in Iran, the company told Trend answering the question whether it plans any engagement in the country.
“We are monitoring the situation very closely, nevertheless OMV has no projects (neither active nor planned) in the Iran at the moment,” said the company.
As for the global plans, the company said OMV Upstream will continue to focus its portfolio on four core regions (CEE with Austria and Romania, North Sea, Russia, and Middle East & Africa) plus one development region.
“Portfolio growth with sustainable reserve replacement is being pursued with the development of projects in selected regions (such as the Middle East and Russia). Australasia [a region of Oceania, comprises Australia, New Zealand, neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean and, sometimes, the island of New Guinea] is to be developed into a core region in order to unlock the growth potential of the rapidly growing Asian market,” said the company.
In Downstream Oil, OMV said it will further strengthen its competitive position in Europe.
“Building on our strong expertise as one of the leading European refiners, we strive to export our successful European refining and petrochemical business model to international growth markets. In Downstream Gas, we will become the leading integrated supplier with a strong market presence from Northwest to Southeast Europe,” said the Austrian company.
In April 2001, OMV started its activities in Iran as operator of the Mehr exploration block. With operational and HSSE excellence, OMV Iran drilled three exploration wells in the Mehr Block, the first one leading to a successful discovery in 2005. In January 2016, OMV announced Iran as one of its main development regions in its global portfolio.
In May 2016, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and OMV signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the evaluation of five oil fields in the West of Karoun area, for potential future development.
At the same time, OMV also signed a Joint Study Agreement with NIOC Exploration Directorate for study of potential prospectivity of the Fars Area (on and offshore).
However, in June 2018 OMV said it plans to cease its operations in Iran amid growing signs that the United States is preparing to re-impose sanctions against the country.
OMV Chief Executive Rainer Seele said that his company planned to conclude a seismic studies project in Iran but would not pursue projects further.
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