Austria: OMV Announces €1bn Divestment Programme

OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss has revealed that the oil and gas group is beginning its programme of divestment immediately, and already has an idea of which assets it will spin off. In a presentation at the company’s capital markets day in Istanbul, Roiss said that the company plans to raise €1bn from divesting refining and marketing assets, allowing it to focus on exploration and production.

Roiss said that OMV’s divestments would not include its 36% stake in plastic maker Borealis, despite its fellow shareholder, Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co, being keen to raise its 64% stake. The company also said that it expected Libya would not return to pre-war levels of oil production for another 12 to 18 months, and that the €7.9bn Nabucco gas pipeline (which the company is a major investor in) would go ahead. However, no timetable was given for the delayed project. “The time schedule depends on the suppliers,” said gas and power chief Werner Auli.