MOSCOW (MRC) -- After years of largely banking on low-cost Russia for growth, OMV is shifting attention towards the Middle East as its chemist chief executive chases his vision of making the Austrian oil and gas group a major supplier of plastics, reported Reuters.
OMV boss Rainer Seele has spent more than 4 billion euros (USD4.5 billion) - 40% of the group’s M&A budget until 2025 - for oil and gas concessions in the region, a 15% stake in Abu Dhabi National Oil Co’s (ADNOC) refining business and a to-be-formed trading joint venture with ADNOC and Italy’s Eni.
"We want to have a fully integrated business model in Abu Dhabi - from the well via the refinery and the petrochemicals all the way to marketing and trade in international markets," the chief of Austria’s second-largest listed company told shareholders last month.
OMV traditionally earns its money from producing, distributing and refining oil and gas in Europe. A focus on low-cost oil and gas fields in Russia - a source of investor concern due to US and EU sanctions - helped the group get back on its feet financially in recent years and become one of the best cash-flow generators in the sector.
After fixing a price this month for the purchase of Siberian gas assets from Gazprom, OMV has largely achieved its Russian expansion plans.
The Russia-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, of which OMV is a financing partner, could face delays. However, OMV’s downside risks are limited to the 950 million euros it has committed, of which it has paid 644 million euros so far.
"This is already captured by its discounted valuation relative to its peers," analysts at Berenberg said in a note.
Seele’s new, Middle East-focused strategy stems from a shift in the environment surrounding OMV’s business model, with challenges created by the politically promoted rise of renewable energy and increased use of electric vehicles.
Consultancy Wood Mackenzie forecasts that demand for oil in developed countries will revert to structural decline next year and drop by about 4 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2035. In contrast, it expects demand in developing economies, mainly in Asia, to increase by nearly 16 million bpd in the same period.
The rise in developing-country demand is seen largely driven by the petrochemicals industry, which uses oil to make the plastics needed for fertilisers, packaging, detergents and clothes, as well as for electric-car parts, solar panels and wind turbines.
This is where Seele gets excited. Refraining from expanding into renewables like BP and Royal Dutch Shell, the CEO plans to monetize his oil with the expected surge in demand for plastics and also jet fuel, especially in China.
For Seele, the new focus is a journey back to his roots. The 58-year-old German holds a PhD in chemistry and started his career as a chemical research scientist.
He has chosen the United Arab Emirates as a base from which to secure a big piece of the Asian petchem pie, aiming to maximize profit via the entire value chain.
"What I am always preaching is, hey guys, try to think integrated," he told Reuters when asked why he did not simply buy into China. "I cannot come up with an integrated business model in Asia if I buy into a petchem unit there. It would be an isolated investment."
The UAE, a strategic investor in OMV since 1994, has aggressive energy ambitions for the coming decade. It is cooperating with international groups including Shell, Germany’s Wintershall DEA and US investment firms KKR and BlackRock to pioneer approaches and technologies.
Last year, the UAE launched a USD132 billion capex program to become self-sufficient in gas by 2030 and establish itself as an exporter of petrochemical products. It plans to invest USD45 billion alone into the Ruwais complex, which is located 240 km (150 miles) west of Abu Dhabi, to make it the largest integrated refinery/petrochemicals facility in the world.
As MRC wrote before, in October 2018, OMV and Gazprom signed a "Basic Sale Agreement" which foresees a potential acquisition of a 24.98% interest in the Achimov IV and V phase development in the Urengoy gas and condensate field by OMV for a purchase price to be negotiated in good faith.
OMV is producing and marketing oil and gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 20 bn and a workforce of around 20,700 employees in 2017, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Romania and Austria and a balanced international portfolio, with the North Sea, the Middle East & Africa and Russia as further core regions. 2017 daily production stood at approximately 348,000 boe/d. In Downstream, OMV operates three refineries with a total annual processing capacity of 17.8 mn tons and more than 2,000 filling stations in ten countries as of year-end 2017. OMV runs gas storage facilities in Austria as well as in Germany; its subsidiary Gas Connect Austria GmbH operates a gas pipeline network in Austria. In 2017, gas sales volumes amounted to 113 TWh.
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