Vienna International Energy Industry News

Read the latest headlines about developments in the international energy industry in Vienna and Austria

OMV: „No Shortage in Natural Gas Supply“

Russian media reported on natural gas supply reductions for Europe. Gazprom denies, OMV refers to large natural gas reserves.

February 1, 2012

Increase in IPIC´s Shareholding at OMV Approved?

Today, the Austrian Ministry of Economics announced to have decided over IPIC´s application. The Arab fund plans to increase its stake at OMV beyond 25%.

January 27, 2012

EVN Acquires Wind Park

The Austrian energy supplier expands its green power portfolio.

January 27, 2012

Bewag Completes Turnaround

After losses in 2010, the Austrian energy supplier could achieve positive results last year.

January 23, 2012

Turkey Emphasizes Support for Nabucco

Besides the Russian South-Stream project, Turkey also shows support for Nabucco, where Austrian OMV is strongly engaged in.

January 21, 2012

RWE Considers Alternative to Nabucco

German RWE shows interest in rival project TANAP and considers getting out of Nabucco.

January 20, 2012

OMV to Sell Petrol Stations in Croatia and Bosnia

The Russian oil company Zarubezhneft is interested in OMV´s Bosnian and Croatian petrol stations.

January 18, 2012

Investments in Wind Power to Increase Substantially

In 2012, the Austrian wind power production will be enlarged by 33%. Investments of € 620m are expected.

January 14, 2012

OMV: Libyan Oil Production at 60% of Pre-War Level

The Austrian OMV produces 19,000 barrels per day in Libya. Production can be improved steadily. A Romanian refinery will be sold to the Romanian state.

January 13, 2012

OMV Starts Downsizing Operations

The Austrian oil and gas company starts to reduce the weighting of the Refining and Marketing (R&M) business segment in the overall portfolio.

January 13, 2012

Central European Gas Hub Sets a New Record in Gas Trading

Trading volume of the Austrian gas hub rose to 40 billion cubic metres in 2011. This is an increase by 15% compared to the previous year.

January 13, 2012

OMV Condemned by Antitrust Authorities

Petrom, a subsidiary of the Austrian oil and gas company has to pay a € 85.2m fine in Romania.

January 11, 2012

Petrom and Exxon Explore in Black Sea

Petrom, the Romanian subsidiary of the Austrian oil and gas group OMV, closed a partnership with the U.S. oil group ExxonMobil.

January 9, 2012

Germany Calls for Austrian Electricity

In order to guarantee stability of the German power grid, Austria has to export more electricity to Germany.

January 5, 2012

Too Little Competition for Energy and Pharmaceuticals

According to the Austrian institute of economic research (WIFO), electricity, energy and pharmaceuticals are too expensive.

January 2, 2012

Styrian Mining Company Causes Problems for Austrian Banks

The Austrian mining company Decometal has debts reaching € 250m. Now, the company will be restructured. Loans must be extended.

December 28, 2011

EVN Raises Stake in Bulgarian Subsidiaries

The Austrian energy group acquired additional shares for € 45m in connection with the privatization process in Bulgaria.

December 21, 2011

Energie AG Achieves Strong Growth

The Upper Austrian energy provider recorded an increase in sales of 12.2% in the fiscal year 2010/11. EBIT was down by 2.6% to € 125.6m.

December 16, 2011

Austria to Be By-Passed by South Stream Gas Pipeline

The rival project to Nabucco will not end at OMV’s Central European gas hub.

December 15, 2011

EVN Reports Decline in Profit

The Austrian energy group achieved net profit of € 189.7m in the 2010/11 financial year, a decline of 8.4% from the previous year.

December 15, 2011

Bulgaria Starts Sale of Share in EVN Bulgaria

The Bulgarian state withdraws from the Austrian energy company. 33% of the shares in EVN Bulgaria will be privatized.

December 13, 2011

OMV and Shell Set to Survey Off Great South Basin

The British-Dutch Shell Group and the Austrian OMV Group start research works near New Zealand.

December 12, 2011

Troubles at State Holding ÖIAG

The dividend policy at Telekom Austria is criticized fiercely. Moreover, the new core shareholders at Telekom and OMV cause fears of takeovers.

December 10, 2011

Sale of Croatian OMV Petrol Stations Begins

OMV´s current market share in Croatia is 13%. Almost every major oil company in Europe shows interest.

December 9, 2011

IPIC to Acquire Blocking Minority Threshold

The core shareholder of the Austrian oil and gas company, the Abu Dhabi state fund IPIC, already owns a 24.9% stake. An increase beyond 25% has been announced.

December 6, 2011

OMV Sells Croatian and Bosnian Subsidiaries

In line with the strategy of the Austrian oil and gas company, the sale of the retail and commercial business in Croatia (OMV Hrvatska d.o.o) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (OMV BH d.o.o) is under consideration.

December 6, 2011

OMV Raises Oil Production in Libya

The Austrian oil and gas company OMV receives already about 50% of the pre-war volume. However, a full recovery will need another twelve months.

December 3, 2011

OMV’s Shale Gas Test Drilling Will Cost € 130m

The Austrian energy group sees a 20 percent chance of success for production at the Lower Austrian gas field that was discovered last month.

December 2, 2011

Austrian Companies Return to Libya

OMV and Asamer have already resumed business, while Strabag is still evaluating damages.

November 30, 2011

C.A.T. oil Maintains Positive Growth Momentum

The Austrian provider of oil and gas field services achieved an all-time high in operating activity levels. Revenue increased by 14.3% to € 74.7m in the third quarter of the year.

November 29, 2011

OMV Discovered Major Gas Field in Austria

The Austrian oil and gas group OMV found a major gas field in Northern Lower Austria. The gas could cover the domestic gas demand for 30 years.

November 26, 2011

OMV Concludes New Syndicated Loans

The Austrian oil and gas company has signed two syndicated multi-currency credit facilities totaling € 1,680m, which replaces existing facilities maturing in 2012.

November 23, 2011

OMV to Sell Petrol Stations to Slovak Slovnaft

The Austrian oil and gas group OMV has already announced its downsizing strategy in the petrol station business. Slovnaft, a Slovak subsidiary of the Hungarian MOL, shows interest.

November 22, 2011

Siemens Austria Finishes Dutch Gas Power Plant

The contract value for the gas and steam power plant amounts to € 570m. 1.4 million households will be served with electricity.

November 21, 2011

Petrom Accused for Breach of Antritrust Rules

The Romanian subsidiary of the Austrian OMV, Petrom, is confronted with alleged breach of antitrust regulations.

November 16, 2011

Stable Electricity Consumption of Austrian Households

2003–2010: Overall electricity consumption of private households rose by 3%; highest consumption in one-person households and privately owned houses.

November 14, 2011

€ 400m for Solar Power

Tauernwind, which has built a solar power park in the Austrian Alps, intends to expand substantially.

November 12, 2011

BDI: BioGas Operations Successfully Established on the Market

The Styrian company increased earnings to € 3.2m in the first nine months of 2011 in spite of a moderate decline in sales.

November 10, 2011

OMV’s Performance Still Impacted by Libyan Production Shortfalls

The Austrian oil and gas company reported strong results for the first nine months of the year. Group EBIT was up by 11% year-on-year.

November 9, 2011

Capital Increase for Energie AG

The Upper-Austrian regional energy provider will raise its capital by € 200m.

November 5, 2011

OMV Considers € 1.5bn Credit Line

The Austrian oil and gas company is negotiating a major credit facility with a term of five years.

November 4, 2011

S&P: Austrian Energy Suppliers more Robust than Competitors

Southern European providers are especially affected by the current debt crisis. Austrian companies “seem to be immune”, the rating agency says.

November 3, 2011

BP Determines Purchase Contracts With OMV

The Austrian subsidiary of British Petrol ends up contracts with the Austrian oil corporation. Possibly better conditions should be negotiated.

October 31, 2011

Verbund’s Result Influenced by Impairment Tests

The Austrian electricity group presented an improved operating result for the first three quarters of the year despite weak water supply.

October 27, 2011

Verbund´s Subsidiary APG Going Public?

The IPO of Verbund´s subsidiary Austrian Power Grid is being discussed.

October 25, 2011

WIFO Alarms: Petrol Price Has to Increase

The petrol price should be increased annually by six percent. Tobacco should be more expensive as well, claims WIFO’s (Austrian Institute of Economic Research) head Karl Aiginger. However, taxes on labor should fall.

October 24, 2011

OMV Raises Production and Margins

The Austrian oil and gas company increased total production by 3%. Hedges adversely impacted EBIT by € 44m in the period from July to September.

October 21, 2011

OMV Buys Gas Discovery from Norwegian Noreco

Norwegian Energy Company (Noreco) has entered into an agreement to sell its 20 percent share of license on Haltenbanken to Austrian OMV.

October 21, 2011

Lower Profits for Verbund´s Subsidiary Sorgenia

Sorgenia, the Italian Subsidiary of the Austrian energy corporation Verbund, reports a drastic decrease in net income from € 61m to € 18m. Sales were down by 8.5%.

October 18, 2011

Verbund Signed a € 750m Credit Facility

The Austrian energy corporation secures funding for a period of five years. A credit facility from January 2005 has been replaced.

October 18, 2011