OMV plans the sale of its shares in Gas Connect Austria
OMV, the international, integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Vienna, and VERBUND, Austria's leading electricity company and one of the largest hydropower producers in Europe, announce to open negotiations on an exclusive basis for the possible sale or purchase of the 51% stake in Gas Connect Austria GmbH.
Gas Connect Austria (51% OMV Gas & Power GmbH, 49% AS Gasinfrastruktur GmbH – this, in turn owned by Allianz Group 60% and Snam S.p.A. 40%) constructs and operates natural gas high-pressure pipelines in Austria. The company is also responsible for the marketing and provision of transport capacity at border points, so called entry and exit capacities, and the transport capacity required for domestic natural gas demand.
With this potential sale, OMV intends to exit the regulated gas transport business in line with its strategy and engage in proactive portfolio management to secure continued profitable growth. At the same time, OMV will remain active in international gas logistics, in the gas storage business, and in the gas supply & trading business.
OMV Aktiengesellschaft
OMV produces and markets oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 23 bn and a workforce of around 20,000 employees in 2019, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Central and Eastern Europe as well as a balanced international portfolio, with Middle East & Africa, the North Sea, Russia and Asia-Pacific as further core regions. Daily average production was 487,000 boe/d in 2019. In Downstream, OMV operates three refineries in Europe and owns a 15% share in ADNOC Refining and Trading JV, with a total annual processing capacity of 24.9 mn tons. Furthermore, OMV has a 36% participation in Borealis, one of the world’s leading producers of polyolefins. The Company operates about 2,100 filling stations in ten European countries. OMV runs gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany; its subsidiary Gas Connect Austria GmbH operates a gas pipeline network in Austria. In 2019, gas sales volumes amounted to around 137 TWh. Sustainability is an integral part of OMV’s corporate strategy. OMV supports the transition to a lower-carbon economy and has set measurable targets for reducing carbon intensity and introducing new energy and petrochemical solutions.