Recently the Romanian press reported about a possible takeover of the assets of OMV Petrom by the Russian Gazprom group. The Russians have their eye on the Petrobrazi and gas reserves in the Black Sea, while OMV is counting on gas deposits in the far Siberia.
In the context in which crude oil is no longer the main attraction for anyone, it is clear that such an arrangement will directly impact the energy security of Romania.
There has been rumours on the possible exchange of property between OMV and Gazprom for a while. The Austrian daily Die Presse has recently reported that OMV is preparing its refineries in Austria and Germany for a possible exchange with Gazprom. The first phase would be “outsourcing” of refineries in Vienna and Bavaria into a particular company, to allow Russian participation.
The Romanian Ministry of Energy has announced that it will closely monitor what happens during negotiations. That and nothing more, because OMV has all the rights to negotiate on their property, including Peter.
“In our desperation to sell their best companies through the privatization process, we did not think about the consequences of this process,” says the portal. “We were pleased to get a good price and rarely to get guarantees that the owner will not change the scope of work and lay off workers in the next five years. After that, let God have mercy on us. ”
Austrians have achieved their goals in Romania. If one looks at the current price of oil and the outlook for the next few years, the Austrians are aware that Romania’s reserves do not cause much interest. And they cannot stay empty-handed in Romania.
“What will be sold? Probably Petrobrazi. As for the reserves in the Black Sea, we should not deceive ourselves. Estimates of their capacity can be quickly refuted or confirmed – even then, taking into account the investment in research and exploitation of the gas pipeline construction, we do not see a significant business opportunity. If oil prices remain at this level it is not worth the effort. ”
“Do not think that the Russians do not know this, but they think a little differently than the Austrians. For Austrians it was a job in itself or a matter of survival and the ability to increase profits, while for the Russians it is something else. Estimates are not performed by the director, or someone else, but the Russian state. This may explain the relative panic in Romania. In negotiations between OMV and Gazprom, the Austrians have other goals, including participation in the Northern Stream 2 and privileged position in the gas market in Europe, with the support of Gazprom. The question is why Gazprom wants property in Romania? ”
When we ask theAustrians what are they doing, the answer is – business. The state is powerless and it can only monitor what is going on. For 11 years in Romania, OMV has gained a huge advantage. “More than 50 percent of profits of OMV Group was provided by Petrom. But at the moment Petrom breathes heavily. To understand why you have to pay for being stupid, we should look at the example of the Hungarian MOL group, and see where are MOL and Hungary now, and where are Petrom and Romania, “concludes the author, transmits serbia-energy.eu