Norwegian companies are looking to buy a controlling stake of Romania’s biggest oil company Petrom in a bid to scale back their dependence on Russian gas, Austrian newspapers reported.
OMV Petrom is currently controlled by Austria’s OMV which owns more than 51% of the shares. It is the largest oil and gas producer not only in Romania, but in southeast Europe, operating in Bulgaria, Moldova and Serbia and Montenegro.
Kurier and Der Standard reported that the Norwegian consortium was interested in buying a majority share, not 31.5% as had previously been discussed.
The move would enable Norway to wean itself off Russian gas after supplies were disrupted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, News.ro reported citing Austrian reports.
The development could mean a boost for Black Sea drilling at the Neptun Deep,a deep-water offshore gas field development project located in the Romanian deep water sector of the Black Sea.
Unlike OMV, which, although it holds stakes in deep-sea offshore projects, is not an operator in any of them, Norwegian companies have the necessary know-how to develop such deposits, Profit.ro said.
The Norwegian consortium has offered to guarantee the supply of more than 80% of Austria’s annual gas consumption needs, namely 75 TWh, the reports said. Austria’s annual gas consumption currently stands at around 90 TWh.
Petrom was privatized by the Romanian state in 2004 and sold to Austrian oil company OMV.
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