Page 16 - Euroil Week 44 2020

EurOil PERFORMANCE EurOil

OMV Petrom falls into the red for

first time since 2015

ROMANIA ROMANIAN oil and gas group OMV Petrom, of this year compared to the same period of 2019,
the largest energy company in Romania and except for electricity production.
OMV’s Romanian arm part of Austria’s OMV group, recorded a net loss Thus, its revenues contracted by 26% y/y to
saw weaker results of RON41mn (€8.5mn) in Q3 as sales declined RON5.05bn in Q3, and by 17% y/y to RON-
across the board. by one quarter y/y, according to the quarterly 15.12bn in January-September.
results released on October 28. Overall, in the first nine months of the year,
The company thus reported its first quarterly the company still posted a profit of RON826mn
losses since Q4 2015. Current low oil and gas — yet less than one-third of the RON2.76bn
prices pushed down operational results, but the recorded in the same period last year.
outlook for subdued long-term prices prompted The bottom line was also impacted by the
a revaluation of the company’s reserves with a RON399mn before tax impairment, triggered
negative impact on the bottom line. by the revision of mid- and long-term price
In Q3 last year, the price of a barrel of Brent assumptions.
oil was $61, to drop to $41 per barrel in the same OMV Petrom also mentioned in its quarterly
period this year, the equivalent of a 33% collapse report that it paid RON181mn to parent-group
caused by demand constricted by the travel OMV to take over its stake in the Bulgarian
restrictions taken by the authorities to prevent perimeter Han Asparuh.
the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Separately, the group confirmed selling its
In Q2, the group’s net profit narrowed four- assets in Kazakhstan, the only other country
fold to RON214mn as its sales compressed by where it has upstream operations. In 2019, OMV
one third. Petrom extracted 2mn barrels of oil equivalent
The group again recorded declining operat- from fields in Kazakhstan, while the production
ing results across the board in the third quarter in Romania was 53mn. ™

Equinor sets net-zero 2050 ambition

NORWAY NORWEGIAN oil firm Equinor aspires to looking at ways of making hydrogen commer-
become a net-zero emitter of greenhouse gases cially viable.
Equinor still envisages (GHGs) by 2050, its new CEO said as he took “We are ready to further strengthen our
3% annual growth in oil office on November 2. climate ambition, aiming to reach net zero by
and gas output between “Equinor is committed to being a leader 2050,” Opedal said.
2019 and 2026. in the energy transition. It is a sound business He said climate change was a “shared chal-
strategy to ensure long-term competition during lenge”, urging government, industries, investors
a period of profound changes in the energy sys- and consumers to come together.
tems as society move towards net zero,” Ander Despite its green ambitions, Equinor still
Opedal, who took over the company’s helm after expects to grow its oil and gas production by
the resignation of Eldar Saetre, said in a state- around 3% annually between 2019 and 2026.
ment. “Over the coming months, we will update Most of this growth will come on the back of
our strategy to continue to create value for our large projects off Norway, including the recently
shareholders and to realise this ambition.” launched Johan Sverdrup field and the upcom-
Equinor announced back in January an ambi- ing Johan Castberg development.
tion to reduce emissions to almost net zero by However, the state-owned firm sees global
2050, while targeting reductions of 40% and 70% demand for hydrocarbons starting to decline
by 2030 and 2040 respectively. While its earlier after 2030. More and more oil and gas will also be
goals covered only Scope 1 and 2 emissions, its used in petrochemicals manufacturing, meaning
new ones include Scope 3 as well. those volumes will not emit emissions through
Equinor aims to expand its renewable energy combustion.
capacity to 4-6 GW by 2026, and 12-16 GW by “Value creation, not volume replacement,
2035. It will also step up acquisitions in wind is and will be guiding Equinor’s decisions,” the
power and utilise carbon capture and stor- company said. “In the longer term, Equinor
age (CCS) and so-called natural sinks, while expects to produce less oil and gas than today.” ™

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 44 05•November•2020