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FSUOGM INVESTMENT FSUOGM

OMV Petrom closes sale

of Kazakh oil assets

KAZAKHSTAN OMV Petrom, the Romanian arm of Austria’s been constrained by operational issues, includ-
OMV, has closed the sale of its oil and gas assets ing pipeline leaks and unsuccessful drilling.
OMV Petrom has been in Kazakhstan, after over two decades working in Meanwhile, a water injection programme at the
working in the country the Central Asian country. The divestment is part larger Komsomolskoye field has failed to boost
for over two decades. of the company’s plan to reorient its upstream output as hoped.
activities around the Black Sea area. OMV Petrom’s production in Kazakhstan has
OMV Petrom has sold 100% interests in its been in decline for several years. It first emerged
Kazakh subsidiaries Kom-Munai and Tasbulat that the company was seeking a buyer for the
Oil to a private company based in Nur-Sultan assets in January last year, with US investment
called Magnetic Oil. Kom-Munai controls the bank Jefferies hired to assist with the sales pro-
Komsomolskoye oilfield in Kazakhstan’s Man- cess. Despite its setbacks, OMV Petrom said at
gistau Province bordering the Caspian Sea, the time that the assets had “growth opportuni-
while Tasbulat Oil manages the nearby Tasbulat ties”, including from improved oil recovery.
concession containing the Aktas, Tasbulat and “The business has been stable, but no further
Turkmenoi deposits. in-country expansion has been realised in the
The fields produced some 6,760 barrels of oil last few years, and OMV Petrom has decided to
equivalent per day (boepd) last year, equivalent shift the focus of its international upstream busi-
to 4.7% of OMV Petrom’s total output. They con- ness to the Black Sea,” the company said.
tain some 21.8mn boe in proven reserves, repre- OMV Petrom already produces oil and gas
senting 4.6% of the company’s total. Most oil is in the Romanian Black Sea and is looking to
pumped via the Uzen-Atyrau-Samara pipeline to develop the 84bn-cubic metre Neptun Deep gas
Russian ports, while the rest is sold domestically. discovery there. It is currently partnered at the
OMV Petrom, which is also part-owned by field with ExxonMobil, although the US major
the Romanian state, entered Kazakhstan in 1998, is expected to transfer its 50% shareholding to
at a time when international interest in the coun- Romania’s state-owned Romgaz. OMV Petrom
try’s oil reserves was at an all-time high. Since and Exxon have repeatedly delayed taking a final
then, however, Kazakhstan’s oil and gas basins investment decision (FID) on Neptun Deep, cit-
have grown mature, with new discoveries few ing poor regulatory conditions in Romania.
and far between. OMV Petrom recently acquired a produc-
OMV Petrom’s exit comes after a number tion-sharing agreement (PSA) to explore for oil
of years of disappointing operational results in and gas off the coast of Georgia and has signalled
Kazakhstan. its interest in searching for hydrocarbons off
Production rates at the Tasbulat fields have Ukraine as well. ™

Week 20 19•May•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7