The pinnacle of Austrian arrogance: OMV Petrom boasts of an investment from 10 years ago. In fact, it is the only one in Romania

By rbj
OMV Petrom, the company that owns the majority stake in the former Romanian state company Petrom, boasts that it has invested 530 million euros in the Brazi power plant, this being the largest greenfield private investment in Romania, the company informs.
We say that this investment is the only major investment the Austrian group has made in our country. Although the average profit of OMV in Romania was approximately 1 billion USD annually, now the Austrians boast that they have made investments in Romania.
Purchased under suspicious conditions by OMV almost 20 years ago, Petrom SA represented the launch pad of the Austrian group in the oil and gas arena in the region. Before the acquisition of Petrom, OMV was just a company refining the oil bought from Russia. Petrom, respectively Romania, granted them oil and gas exploitation perimeters, as the Austrians did not hope even during their temporary empire.
But bragging that you made an investment 10 years ago seems shameless to us.
“We are proud that the Brazi plant has been a reliable producer for industry and households in Romania for ten years. At the same time, our plant is a landmark for the security of electricity supply, considering the fast start-up time, flexibility and high efficiency. We believe that, in Romania’s energy transition, natural gas is the best partner for renewable energy”, said Franck Neel, member of the OMV Petrom Directorate, responsible for the Gas and Energy activity, according to a statement sent on Monday.
But, Mr. Neel, why don’t you say that OMV destroyed Romanian petrochemicals by definitively closing two petrochemical plants that belonged to Petrom, one of them being sold for scrap. On the other hand, OMV has closed numerous sources of oil and gas, hoping that the Russian Federation will thank them. It did not happen, as is well known.
Are you ashamed? We believe that you should be sanctioned for the damage caused to the oil and gas industry in Romania.
The OMV Petrom company recently published the financial data for the first semester of 2022. How much was the profit of the Austrians? More than $1 billion.
Comparatively, in the first half of 2021, OMV Petrom recorded an almost 5-fold increase in profit, against the background of the increase in the price of crude oil and gas worldwide. The average price of crude oil achieved by the OMV Petrom group in the first half was 90.97 dollars per barrel, compared to $54.61 in the same period last year, which represents an increase of 67%.
“Investments totaled 1.39 billion lei in the first semester (approx. 300 million USD), 15% higher than the previous semester (1.2 billion lei), mainly directed to investments in Exploration and Production in the amount of 1.02 billion lei (993 million lei last year). Investments in Refining and Marketing were worth 261 million lei (198 million lei last year), while investments in Gas and Energy were worth 92 million lei (9 million lei last year). Investments in the Corporate and Other segment were worth 14 million lei (7 million lei last year),” OMV Petrom also says.
OMV Petrom shares are traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. OMV Aktiengesellschaft, one of the largest listed industrial companies in Austria, owns 51% of OMV Petrom shares. The Romanian state, through the Ministry of Energy, owns 20.6% of OMV Petrom’s shares, and 28.4% are owned by individuals and legal entities.