The money will be used for upgrading the technologies involved in the exploration of petroleum and is a strong indication of the Austrian group's intention of consolidating its regional leader position.
"Our medium-term purpose is to stop production decline and stabilise it at above 200,000 barrels of petroleum a day. Production in 2005 will match last year's level, that is 220,000 barrels every day," said Werner Ladwein, the head of Petrom's exploration and drilling department.
OMV bought 51% in Petrom last summer in a 1.5bn euro deal. At stake was the acquisition of Petrom's attractive portfolio of petroleum and gas production, with OMV tripling its petroleum reserves as a result of the move. Petrom's petroleum reserves are estimated at one billion barrels.
Petrom's 2004 output amounted to 5.5 million tonnes of petroleum and 6.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas. OMV has already replaced most of Petrom's management team since the takeover, but retained Gheorghe Constantinescu as chief executive officer, while reducing some of his duties.
Managed by the Austrian company, Petrom will pay special attention to exploration and drilling operations in Kazakhstan, where Petrom has a lease for exploration and five leases for drilling and development.
Last year Petrom was in advanced talks with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to take out a 50 million euro loan for funding, exploration and drilling operations in Kazakhstan. It later gave up on the idea of the loan after OMV pledged to allocate a large amount of the funds it was to feed into Petrom towards to this purpose.
In order to gain control of Petrom, OMV contributed 830 million euros to the capital increase of the company, which will be used for further development projects. adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
