German Peter Rudolf Zeilinger will replace Romanian Gabriel Selischi as a member of oil and gas group OMV Petrom’s directorate in charge of the upstream activities. The change will become effective on April 1, 2016, the company announced on Wednesday, January 13.

Gabriel Selischi, who has been working for OMV Petrom since September 2006 and has been managing the company’s upstream division since September 2013, will continue his career within Austrian group OMV. He has been proposed as Senior Vice President responsible for managing the group’s activities in the Australasia area.

Peter Rudolf Zeilinger, 50, has held several technical and management positions within OMV and OMV Petrom, including that of Head of Domestic Assets for OMV Petrom, between 2008 and 2011. He holds a Masters of Engineering degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Technical University of Clausthalf-Zellerfeld in Germany.

OMV Petrom's upstream activities include onshore oil and gas extraction operations in Romania and offshore exploration activities in the Black Sea, in partnership with American group ExxonMobil.

The change comes at a time when OMV Petrom’s upstream business, which used to be the group’s cash cow, is not doing so great due to the steep fall in oil prices. The oil price decline has already led to a drop in the company’s profits, which has also been reflected in the evolution of its share price.

OMV Petrom’s operational profit (EBIT) on the upstream segment went down by 92% in the first nine months of 2015, to under EUR 290 million. Moreover, the company posted EUR 407 million losses from upstream operations in the third quarter of last year, for the first time in many years.

OMV Petrom’s shares, which are trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, have declined by 30% in the last 12 months.

OMV Petrom moves into the red in the third quarter due to the oil price drop

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com