OMV Petrom sheds Kazakhstan fields to focus on Black Sea

Romanian oil and gas company OMV Petrom has sold its onshore oilfields in Kazakhstan to focus on its portfolio in the Black Sea region.

OMV Petrom said on Tuesday that the transaction for the sale of its 100 per cent shareholding in Kom-Munai LLP and Tasbulat Oil Corporation in Kazakhstan to Magnetic Oil Limited.

Kom-Munai and Tasbulat hold the production licenses for four onshore fields – Komsomolskoe, Aktas, Tasbulat, and Turkmenoi. The cumulative daily production of the four fields was 6.45 kboe per day in 2019, representing around four per cent of the group’s production.

Closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions precedent including approval by the Kazakh Ministry of Energy and is expected in the first half of 2021.

To remind, OMV Petrom entered the Upstream sector in Kazakhstan in 1998. The business has been stable but no further in-country expansion has been realized in the last few years and OMV Petrom has decided to shift the focus of its international upstream business to the Black Sea.

All fields are located in the Mangistau region of West Kazakhstan near the Caspian Sea. The four onshore fields cover a total area of 86.52 square kilometres, including approximately 75 wells, production facilities, and 200 kilometres of pipelines.

Christopher Veit, member of the executive board of OMV Petrom, said: “The decision will allow us to focus on the Black Sea region and continue to build a strong position in the area, in line with our growth strategy.

“We have already made important steps for expanding our offshore presence in the Black Sea, by entering Bulgaria at the end of last year and by winning an international tender in Georgia this year”.

As for the company’s Black Sea portfolio, OMV Petrom has several concessions in two countries. Namely, it holds the XIX Neptun Shallow, XIX Neptun Deep, and XVIII Istria licenses. In Bulgaria, it holds the 1-21 Han Asparuh license.