OMV Petrom 1Q Investments At RON633M, Down 12% On Year

05.11.2011 By Andrei Circhelan

Romanian oil and gas company OMV Petrom (SNP.RO) Wednesday said it has invested 633 million lei (EUR154.8 million) in the first quarter, 12% less than RON717 million in the year-earlier period, since construction works of its power plant are in the final stage.

"Capital expenditure decreased to RON633 million due to substantially lower capital expenditure in gas and power, since construction works of the power plant in Romania are in the final stage. The lower gas and power investments were partially offset by the increased investments in exploration and production and refining and marketing," the company noted in its quarterly financial report.

It said investment in exploration and production represented 77% of overall investment (RON488 million), mainly targeting the development of wells, workover activities and sub-surface operations.

Gas and power investment represented 7% of the total, namely RON45 million.

OMV Petrom will complete in the second half of the year two electricity production projects, namely the Brazi thermal power producer and a wind farm in southeastern Romania.

Upgrades at the Petrobrazi refinery cumulated an investment of RON88 million in the first quarter.

The company is 51.01% owned by Austrian group OMV, while the Economy Ministry holds a 20.64% stake. Fondul Proprietatea (FP.RO) holds 20.11%, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development holds 2.03% and 6.21% of stock is free float.

Wednesday, Petrom shares were up 0.36% on the day, to RON0.417 in Bucharest. (EUR1=RON4.0885)