Libya Recovery Contributes to OMV Q1 Boost

Output from a Libya, recovering from the turmoil of civil unrest, helped OMV boost production slightly in the first quarter, the Austrian energy group said in a trading statement on Tuesday.

Production rose to 299,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) from 289,000 in the previous quarter, it said.

“Overall production increased compared to the previous quarter mainly due to the recovery of production in Libya,” it said, putting average production there at around 25,000 barrels per day (bbl/d).

“This increase was, however, partly offset by reduced production in Romania caused by severe weather conditions, as well as lower volumes in New Zealand,” it added.

Libya had provided a tenth of its global output in 2010 before a civil war halted production last year that is now coming back on line.

The group’s refining margin, an indicator of profitability, widened to $1.92 per barrel in the quarter from $1.77 in the previous three months. Total refining sales slipped to 4.55 million tonnes, Reuters reported.

OMV reports quarterly financial results on May 9.

It said for 2012 it had entered into oil price swaps, locking in a Brent price of approximately $101.5 per barrel for a production volume of 50,000 bbl/d. It had euro-dollar average rate forwards at $1.36 that cover approximately $750 million.

“In Q1 2012 the net result of these hedges adversely impacted EBIT by 64 million euros,” it said.

It expected its reported tax rate to increase versus the last quarter of 2011 given the recovery of production in Libya, partly offset by the positive tax effect of writeoffs in Norway and Britain as well as the treatment of a cartel fine in Romania in the fourth quarter of 2011.