Petrogas sale to be repeated

SNP Petrom, the largest company on the Romanian oil market got only one bid during the auction to sell its industrial gas operation Petrogas, so that it will have to go through the entire process again, Gheorghe Constantinescu, Petrom chief executive told Ziarul Financiar. The bid submission deadline for acquiring 100% in Petrogas SRL expired last week. The management of the state-run oil operator, now in advanced talks in view of a sale to Austria-based OMV Group, early this year specified what Petrom operations were not related to its oil and natural gas core business. Petrom is therefore trying to recover the money it had put into ventures like Petrogas, which it started with Norwegian giant Norsk Hydro, and the Carpatina mineral waters. In Petrogas’ case, the amount invested by Petrom reaches approximately $6 million. Petrom is the sole owner after having bought the Norwegians out of their 50% last year. ZF