AGL 40.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
AIRLINK 129.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.53 (-0.41%)
BOP 6.76 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.2%)
CNERGY 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-2.81%)
DCL 8.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-2.68%)
DFML 41.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.69 (-1.66%)
DGKC 81.30 Decreased By ▼ -2.47 (-2.95%)
FCCL 32.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.27%)
FFBL 74.25 Decreased By ▼ -1.22 (-1.62%)
FFL 11.75 Increased By ▲ 0.28 (2.44%)
HUBC 110.03 Decreased By ▼ -0.52 (-0.47%)
HUMNL 13.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.76 (-5.22%)
KEL 5.29 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-1.86%)
KOSM 7.63 Decreased By ▼ -0.77 (-9.17%)
MLCF 38.35 Decreased By ▼ -1.44 (-3.62%)
NBP 63.70 Increased By ▲ 3.41 (5.66%)
OGDC 194.88 Decreased By ▼ -4.78 (-2.39%)
PAEL 25.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-3.38%)
PIBTL 7.37 Decreased By ▼ -0.29 (-3.79%)
PPL 155.74 Decreased By ▼ -2.18 (-1.38%)
PRL 25.70 Decreased By ▼ -1.03 (-3.85%)
PTC 17.56 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-4.88%)
SEARL 78.71 Decreased By ▼ -3.73 (-4.52%)
TELE 7.88 Decreased By ▼ -0.43 (-5.17%)
TOMCL 33.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.90 (-2.61%)
TPLP 8.41 Decreased By ▼ -0.65 (-7.17%)
TREET 16.26 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-6.93%)
TRG 58.60 Decreased By ▼ -2.72 (-4.44%)
UNITY 27.51 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.29%)
WTL 1.41 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (2.17%)
BR100 10,450 Increased By 43.4 (0.42%)
BR30 31,209 Decreased By -504.2 (-1.59%)
KSE100 97,798 Increased By 469.8 (0.48%)
KSE30 30,481 Increased By 288.3 (0.95%)

Austrian oil and gas group OMV's new chief executive is looking towards Russia for low-cost energy sources to boost the company's upstream business, which has been squeezed by low crude prices. Though OMV's downstream refining and marketing operations bolstered second-quarter results posted on August 12, CEO Rainer Seele cast a wary eye over margin prospects for that side of the business and sees exploration as key for the longer term.
OMV has placed its bets on expensive but stable exploration projects in the North Sea as output in Yemen and Libya stalls, and Seele is keen to maintain the upstream focus. Some of the most ambitious North Sea investment plans, such as the Rosebank field, will be cut or development slowed. But Seele, who took the helm in July, still wants upstream activities to account for 80 percent of future investments.
OMV announced in June that it is working with Gazprom on developing the Urengoy field in Siberia - one of the largest in Russia - and the extension of the Nord Stream pipeline.
Asked about potential asset swaps as part of OMV's future dealings with Gazprom, Seele said it was too early to say, adding he would not conduct a "summer sale". He also ruled out the possibility that Gazprom would take a stake in OMV.
Gazprom in June said OMV was interested in its southern Turkish Stream pipeline project, but Seele told reporters OMV would focus on Nord Stream. "It's for others to live out southern pipeline fantasies," he said.
The strong showing from downstream operations in second-quarter results, meanwhile, is not expected to persist for the rest of the year.
The segment's underlying operating profit was up 70 percent, lifting the overall figure by 2 percent to 375 million euros ($415 million), but OMV added that it expects lower refining margins in the second half because of European overcapacity.
The average forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts had been for group underlying operating profit of 384 million euros.
Contributions from plastics maker Borealis, of which OMV owns 36 percent, also boosted underlying net income.
Turkey, however, has developed into a headache for OMV, which booked a 205 million euro impairment at its Samsun power plant and Seele said he saw a "difficult future" for OMV in Turkey, especially for Samsun.

Copyright Reuters, 2015

Comments

Comments are closed.