OREANDA-NEWS. The joint venture partners in the 1-21 Han-Asparuh exploration block, offshore Bulgaria, consisting of OMV 30% (currently operator), Total 40% (operator for the drilling phase) and Repsol 30%, completed the largest 3D seismic acquisition campaign in the entire Black Sea on January 16. The seismic acquisition activities took 210 days and the 3D survey is complemented by an additional 2D seismic survey of 3,000 km which was completed in October 2013.

Jaap Huijskes, OMV Executive Board member responsible for Exploration and Production: “We are proud to have completed this vital step in the exploration phase for the Han-Asparuh block. The interpretation of the data will enable us and our partners to define the drilling locations for the two exploration wells that are planned during 2015 and 2016 in order to assess potential hydrocarbon resources in this part of the Black Sea.”

The 1-21 Han-Asparuh block is located offshore in the Bulgarian sector in the western part of the Black Sea and covers an area of 14,220 km? with water depths up to 2,200 m.

With Group sales of EUR 43 bn and a workforce of 28,658 employees as of year-end 2012 and a market capitalization of approx. EUR 11 bn as of December 31, 2013, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is Austria's largest listed industrial company. 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 approx. 1.12 bn boe as of year-end 2012 and a production of around 303 kboe/d in 2012. In Gas and Power, OMV sold approx. 437 TWh of gas in 2012. OMV operates a 2,000 km long gas pipeline network in Austria with a marketed capacity of approx. 103 bcm in 2012. OMV's gas trading platform, the Central European Gas Hub, is established as an important gas trading platform on the gas routes from East to West, with a trading volume of around 528 TWh in 2012. OMV operates an 860 MW gas-fired power plant in Romania (Brazi) and an 870 MW gas-fired power plant in Turkey (Samsun). In Refining and Marketing, OMV has an annual refining capacity of 22 mn t and, as of year-end 2013, approx. 4,200 filling stations in 11 countries. OMV holds a 51% stake in the Romanian energy company OMV Petrom S.A., a 36% stake in Borealis AG, one of the world's leading producers of polyolefins and a 97% stake in Petrol Ofisi, Turkey's leading company in the oil products retail and commercial business