OMV AG, Vienna, will cease further negotiations with Gazprom on the potential acquisition of a 24.98% interest in the Achimov 4A/5A phase development in Urengoy gas and condensate field. The news comes as Russia escalates its attack on Ukraine.
The companies in March 2020 had agreed to extend until June 2022 negotiations related to a 2018 deal regarding the assets in Siberia whereby OMV would obtain a 24.98% stake in a project to develop the Archimov formations in Blocks 4A and 5A (OGJ Online, Mar. 9, 2020). Gazprom’s stake would have decreased to 50.01%, while Wintershall Dea GmbH would retain its 25.01% share. The deal was originally set to close by end 2019.
OMV also will review its involvement in the 55-billion cu m/year Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The company, along with ENGIE, Shell, Uniper, and Wintershall, are signed on for long-term financing of 50% of the total cost of the project now in question after Germany halted the natural gas pipeline’s permitting process (OGJ Online, Feb. 22, 2022).
In 2017, OMV established Russia as a new core region following the acquisition of 24.99% interest in Yuzhno Russkoye gas field in Western Siberia from Uniper SE, adding 100,000 boe/d to OMV’s production (OGJ Online, Mar. 6, 2017). Gas from the field supplies the Nord Stream pipeline which transports Russian gas to Germany. The asset, not named in the Mar. 1 release, is retained by the company, OMV told OGJ in an email.