Petrom, the largest oil company in Romania, is to have a budget for acquisitions on foreign markets, including Serbia and Bulgaria, Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, chairman of Austrian group OMV, the majority shareholder in the company, told Ziarul Financiar.
a??We see Petrom beyond Romanian borders. We are going to boost the companya??s activity in Kazakhstan by 2008, as well as our presence in the Caspian Sea area,a?? the OMV chairman said.
Petrom is likely to be looking at fuel distribution networks, as well as the oil exploration-exploitation perimetres in Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey and the markets of Central Asia.
Ruttenstofer said the acquisition campaign by Petrom would begin a??later this year, or early next yeara??. He added that the value of the budget for acquisitions had not yet been set, but that the company would have no problems in allocating the necessary amounts.
a??Petrom already has operations in Bulgaria and Serbia, and it exports to Turkey. We will start with the acquisitions after our internal problems are brought under control.a??
The most important of these will see the company invest in modernising its refinery. Last summer OMV acquired 51% in Petrom in a deal worth 1.5 billion euros, including the direct purchase of a third of the companya??s stock for 669 million euros and a capital contribution of 830 million euros.
OMVa??s strategy is to establish Petrom as a brand on the markets of South-East Europe. This has enabled OMV to triple its oil reserves. The company has one of the biggest deposits in the region.
OMV has announced that it will be hiring an independent auditor in July to reassess Petroma??s reserves – currently numbering around one billion barrels, according to the latest estimates. By comparison, estimated global oil reserves stand at over 1,200 billion barrels.
The high level of Petroma??s reserves was an attractive feature to many companies, including OMV. a??This summer we will hire an auditor to assess Petroma??s reserves. We have organised a tender and we have already received a letter of intent from the American company De Golyer & McNaughton, the world largest in this field. This is a complex operation that could take up to two years,a?? explained Ruttenstorfer.
Petroma??s reserves were last audited during the Petrom privatisation process by British firm Gaffney, Cline & Associates.
After taking over Petrom, the Austrians replaced the companya??s management almost completely, however retaining Gheorghe Constantinescu as chief executive officer.