OMV announces final investment decision taken by OMV Petrom for natural gas deep-water project Neptun Deep

• Key milestone under Strategy 2030 in growing natural gas supply as energy transition fuel
• Neptun Deep, located in the Romanian Black Sea, to become one of the largest natural gas projects in the European Union
• OMV Petrom, as operator, to develop gas project in a 50/50 partnership with Romgaz 
• Planned project investment totaling up to EUR 4 bn 
• First gas expected for 2027, with an estimated recoverable volume of 100 bcm

OMV announces the final investment decision taken by OMV Petrom, the largest integrated energy company in South-Eastern Europe. OMV Group holds a 51% interest in OMV Petrom. The Neptun Deep project will be co-developed with Romgaz, the largest producer and main supplier of natural gas in Romania, under OMV Petrom’s operatorship. Both companies approved the development plan for two natural gas fields, Domino and Pelican South, located in the Neptun Deep offshore block. This development plan is subject to endorsement by the Romanian National Agency for Mineral Resources. 

OMV Petrom and Romgaz will jointly invest up to EUR 4 billion for the development phase of the project, set to bring on stream around 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas. First production is estimated for 2027 and production at the plateau will be approximately 140 kboe/day, for almost 10 years.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Alfred Stern, Chairman of the Board of Management and CEO of OMV, and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of OMV Petrom said: “I am delighted to see our long-standing collective efforts at multiple levels come to fruition with this final investment decision. Neptun Deep has always been part of OMV Petrom’s strategy as well as a key strategic pillar of our group portfolio under Strategy 2030 where we strive to supply energy in a more sustainable manner in the future. With Romania set to become the largest natural gas producer in the EU, Neptun Deep is expected to provide a reliable and secure source of energy in the region, while strengthening our group’s position in the Black Sea region and in South-Eastern Europe.”
“This investment decision also comes at a time where OMV Petrom continues to build low-carbon energy solutions to supply the increasing energy demand in Romania.” he added.

The infrastructure required for the development of the Domino and Pelican South offshore natural gas fields includes 10 wells, 3 subsea production systems and associated flow lines, an offshore platform, the main natural gas pipeline to Tuzla and a natural gas measurement station. The platform generates its own energy, operating at the highest standards of safety and environmental protection. The entire infrastructure will be operated remotely, through a digital twin. This allows for process optimization and will contribute to the improvement of environmental performance, by making energy consumption more efficient and reducing emissions. 

Notes to the editor:

Key estimated highlights of the Neptun Deep project (100%) include

• Total development CAPEX is estimated at up to EUR 4 bn, to be spent mostly during 2024-2026 
• First production is expected in 2027
• Plateau production is estimated at around 140 kboe/day for almost 10 years
• Estimated recoverable volumes are currently at around 100 bcm (~700 mn boe)
• Unit production cost is estimated at an average of 3 USD/boe (for the life of field)
• HSSE: carbon footprint is expected to be better than industry benchmark (at plateau production, carbon footprint of around 2.2 kg CO2/boe, significantly below the industry average of 16.7 kg CO2/boe as per IOGP). State-of-the-art technology and expertise are to be used in order to produce the gas safely and in an environment-friendly manner.  

About Neptun Deep

The Neptun Deep block in the Black Sea has an area of 7,500 square km and is located at a distance of about 160 km from the shore, in water depths between 100 and 1,000 meters. Since 2008, the exploration activities in the Neptun Deep block have included two 3D acquisition campaigns and two exploration drilling campaigns and two exploration drilling programs. The first natural gas discovery took place in 2012. Exploration and appraisal expense to date amounts to more than EUR 1.5 bn.

About OMV Petrom

OMV Petrom is the largest integrated energy company in South-Eastern Europe, with an annual Group hydrocarbon production of approximately 43 million boe in 2022. The Group has a refining capacity of 4.5 million tons annually and operates an 860 MW high-efficiency power plant. The Group is present on the oil products retail market in Romania and neighboring countries through approximately 780 filling stations under two brands – OMV and Petrom. 

OMV Petrom is a company in which Romanian shareholders hold over 42% of the shares (of which the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Energy, holds 20.7%, and 21.7% are owned by pension funds in Romania, to which are added almost 500,000 individual investors and other Romanian entities). OMV Aktiengesellschaft, one of the largest listed industrial companies in Austria, holds a 51.2% stake in OMV Petrom, and the remaining 6.4% are held by other foreign investors. Of the total shares of OMV Petrom, 28.1% represents the free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. 

OMV Petrom is the largest contributor to the state budget, with approximately 39 billion euro in taxes and dividends paid between 2005 and 2022. During the same period, the company invested approximately 17 billion euro. In 2022, the taxes paid by OMV Petrom ensured 7% of Romania's tax revenues. 

Since 2007, OMV Petrom has included corporate responsibility principles into its business strategy. Between 2007 and 2022, the company has allocated around 120 million euro to develop communities in Romania, focusing on environmental protection, education, health, and local development. 

On July 29th, 2020, OMV Petrom announced its support for the recommendations issued by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) regarding risks and opportunities on climate change. OMV Petrom annually reports on the progress made in implementing these recommendations. 

About OMV Aktiengesellschaft

With Group sales revenues of EUR 62 bn and a workforce of around 22,300 employees in 2022, OMV is amongst Austria’s largest listed industrial companies.
In Chemicals & Materials, OMV through its subsidiary Borealis, is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals, fertilizers, and plastics recycling. Together with its two major joint ventures – Borouge (with ADNOC, in the UAE and Singapore) and Baystar™ (with TotalEnergies, in the USA) – Borealis supplies products and services to customers across the globe. OMV’s Fuels & Feedstock business produces and markets fuels as well as feedstock for the chemical industry, operates three refineries in Europe, and holds a 15% stake in a refining joint venture in the UAE. OMV operates around 1,800 filling stations in nine European countries. In the Energy segment, OMV explores and produces oil and gas in the four core regions of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, North Sea, and Asia-Pacific. Average daily production in 2022 amounted to 392 kboe/d. Its activities also include the Low Carbon Business as well as the entire gas business.

OMV intends to transition from an integrated oil, gas, and chemicals company to become a leading provider of innovative and sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials, while taking a leading global role in the circular economy. By switching over to a low-carbon business, OMV is striving to achieve net zero in all three Scopes by 2050 at the latest.

OMV shares are traded on the Vienna Stock Exchange (OMV) and as American Depository Receipts (OMVKY) in the U.S.