OREANDA-NEWS. July 13, 2012. OMV signed an agreement to acquire a 15% stake in the Aasta Hansteen field (formerly Luva, Production Licence 218/218 B) from ExxonMobil and an increase of its share by 6.15% in the Norwegian Sea Gas Infrastructure (NSGI) project. The deal is subject to approval by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The Aasta Hansteen development contains three significant gas discoveries in the Vшring Basin, in the Northern Norwegian Sea. The expected recoverable net volume is estimated at 40 – 60 mn boe of gas and 0.8 – 1.0 mn boe of condensate in a water depth of approximately 1,300 m.

The Aasta Hansteen field was originally discovered in 1997 and lies 300 km offshore in the
 Vшring Basin. Statoil has been operating the field since 2006. Co-venturers are OMV with a 15% stake and ConocoPhillips with a 10% stake. The field development is currently in the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase. The final investment decision by the co-venturers is scheduled for Q4/12. The acquisition will provide OMV with recoverable resources of 43 mn boe from three discoveries. Additional exploration potential upside is identified which may contribute at a later stage. Production is currently planned to start in Q4/16 and is currently estimated to provide OMV with 18,000 boe/d net in 2017.

Jaap Huijskes, OMV Executive Board Member responsible for Exploration and Production: “Iґm glad to see that OMV’s strategy in Norway starts to bear fruit. This is the second acquisition in the Northern Norwegian Sea within a year. We are well on track to establish Norway as a core country in our Exploration and Production portfolio.”

The acquisition also includes a 6.15% stake in the NSGI project. Together with its share gained through the Zidane acquisition in December 2011, OMV holds a total of 7.9 % in NSGI. The scope of the NSGI project, which is in the FEED phase as well, comprises a 480 km long 36” pipeline from Aasta Hansteen field to the Nyhamna gas processing plant and an expansion of the Nyhamma gas plant. The pipeline will also allow the connection of the Linnorm and Zidane fields, where OMV has a 20% stake, as well as possible tie-ins of other discoveries.

NSGI is operated by Statoil. Partners are OMV, Centrica, ConocoPhillips, Edison, E.ON Ruhrgas, GDF SUEZ, Maersk, Petoro, RWE Dea, Shell and TOTAL.

Background information:
 OMV Norway
OMV has been active in the Norwegian Sea area since 2007 and has built up an exploration portfolio of 7 licenses. An operated exploration well was drilled on PL 471/Chamonix in Q3/11 and 20% of the Zidane field development project in PL 435 was acquired by year end 2011. In addition to the Norwegian Sea, OMV has a portfolio of 8 licences in the Barents Sea.

OMV Aktiengesellschaft
With Group sales of EUR 34.05 bn and a workforce of 29,800 employees in 2011, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Exploration and Production, OMV is active in two core countries Romania and Austria and holds a balanced international portfolio. OMV had proven oil and gas reserves of approximately 1.13 bn boe as of year-end 2011 and a production of around 288,000 boe/d in 2011. In Refining and Marketing, OMV has an annual refining capacity of 22.3 mn t and as of the end of 2011 approximately 4,500 filling stations in 13 countries including Turkey. In Gas and Power, OMV sold approximately 272 TWh of gas in 2011. In Austria, OMV operates a 2,000 km long gas pipeline network with a marketed capacity of around 101 bcm in 2011. With a trading volume of around 40 bcm in 2011, OMV’s gas trading platform, the Central European Gas Hub, is amongst the most important hubs in Continental Europe. OMV further strengthened its position through the ownership of a 97% stake in Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s leading company in the retail and commercial business.

Sustainability
 OMV is a signatory to the UN Global Compact, and an active supporter to the values enshrined in its Code of Conduct. These include a strong sense of responsibility towards the social and natural environment, especially in economically weak regions. OMV continuously addresses economic, environmental and social issues related to its business in a responsible manner. The company reports on its activities in a sustainability report in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines.