OMV Petrom turns to loss for the third quarter due to Kazakhstan subsidiary but grows sales, makes nine-month profit

Oil and gas company OMV Petrom posted a net loss of EUR 23.3 million in the third quarter of the year. However, the company managed to post a profit of EUR 332 million for the first nine months of the year, which was up 44 percent compared to the same period of last year. The results in the third quarter were triggered by the depreciation of the assets in Kazahstan and by the currency exchange losses on the USD loans for the Kazahstan subsidiary, said Mariana Gheorghe, CEO of OMV Petrom. Had it not been for these special elements, OMV Petrom would have made a profit of EUR 52 million in the third quarter and its nine-month profit would have almost doubled compared to last year, to EUR 392 million. The company's sales were of EUR 3 billion during the first three quarters of the year, up 11 percent on the same period last year. Its sales in the third quarter alone stood at EUR 1.1 billion, higher than in the same quarter last year. “In the past months, in line with our strategic directions, we made visible progress on the power project at Brazi and entered partnerships with internationally reputed companies in order to maximize production on selected mature fields, with cumulative production enhancement of 50% expected from the respective fields in the next five years,” Gheorghe went on in a statement. "In the remaining part of 2010, we will step up our investment efforts with a particular focus on E&P drilling and well workovers in order to largely offset natural decline production whilst keeping our focus on cost management and financial discipline to ensure sound results despite weakening market conditions," according to Mariana Gheorghe. editor@romania-insider.com