Libyan Losses Hit OMV Q1

Austrian integrated energy firm OMV reported May 3 a clean CCS profit of €759mn ($834mn), down 7% from €818mn in Q1 2018, mainly owing to upstream earnings falling from €438mn to €393mn. Consolidated sales increased by 9% to €5.403bn primarily as a result of higher realised oil and gas prices, it said, although Dated Brent crude and European hub gas prices were all down on Q1 2018. And its report shows that while its average realised crude price was up 3% at $60.01/barrel, its realised average gas price was down 3%, when expressed in dollars, at $4.72/'000 ft³.

Positive net market effects of €98mn, from higher realised oil and gas prices and positive foreign exchange rate effects, were more than offset by missing sales contribution from Libya that had a negative effect of €144mn compared with the year-prior quarter. This effect was partially offset by higher sales in the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, it said.

The downstream gas result fell from €94mn to €75mn, owing to lower arbitrage opportunities in the markets compared with last year; and a lower gas storage business result. This was offset by an increased downstream oil contribution following a strong performance from the commercial and retail businesses.

The contribution from the stake in the transport business Gas Connect Austria was slightly weaker, from €27mn to €25mn. Natural gas sales volumes increased from 33.0 TWh to 38.1 TWh, primarily following a successful market offensive in Germany and the Netherlands, partly offset by lower sales volumes in Turkey and Romania.

Natural gas sales volumes in 2019 are projected to be above the 114 TWh sold last year, but the  margins on those sales are forecast lower. Meanwhile OMV will continue to finance the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, it said.