Romania’s OMV Petrom Buys New Oilfield In Kazakhstan

Romania’s largest oil company OMV Petrom (SNP.RO) on Wednesday said it acquired at the end of last year Kazakhstan’s Korned LLP, which owns the exploitation license for local undeveloped oilfield Kultuk, for an undisclosed amount.

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Both the seller and the buyer agreed to keep the price of the deal confidential, but mentioned that the purchase is not material, accounting for less than 10% of OMV Petrom's assets, the oil company said Wednesday in a statement.

According to OMV Petrom's financial report from end-September 2009, the company's assets totaled 26 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.2077).

The sale-purchase deal was signed on October 29, 2009 and closed on December 31, after obtaining several approvals from the authorities in Kazakhstan.

"I am happy to announce the expansion of our exploration and production portfolio in Kazakhstan, during challenging times, which provides evidence for our company's strong position," Petrom's chief executive Mariana Gheorghe said.

Kultuk is the sixth oilfield owned by Petrom in Kazakhstan, being located onshore in the Pre-Caspian Basin, 34-km northwest from the Komsomolskoe deposit that Petrom began exploiting since June 2009.

Petrom invested around EUR180 million for the Komsomolskoe oilfield which it exploits through TOO Kom - Munai company.

The Kultuk oilfield has been discovered in the '80s and never been exploited. Technical studies showed that Kultuk can be connected to Komsomolskoe oilfield and thus, can benefit from the existing facilities and infrastructure, Petrom said.

In 2008, Petrom's daily crude oil and natural production in Kazakhstan stood at around 5,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 24% compared with a year earlier, according to company data.

Petrom is the largest corporation in Romania and the largest gas and oil producer in Southeastern Europe. In December 2004, Petrom was privatized and became a part of OMV AG (OMV.VI), which is the majority shareholder, with a 51% stake.

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