Business Overview

R&M refines and markets fuel products in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the Middle East through OMV’s 15% interest in ADNOC Refining and ADNOC Global Trading. OMV’s European downstream business model is characterized by a high degree of physical integration along the value chain from crude supply to refining, retail, and commercial sales. Total fuels and other sales volumes Europe amounted to 16.34 mn t in 2021. Commercial fuel customers are mainly from industrial transportation and construction sectors and account for more than 60% of the sales volume, while the strongly branded retail network comprising 2,088 filling stations accounts for the remaining sales volumes. OMV owns gas storage facilities with a capacity of 30 TWh, holds a 65% share in the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH), and operates a gas-fired power plant in Romania. Natural gas sales volumes amounted to 196.4 TWh.

Refining including product supply and sales

The year 2021 has been a story of two halves with regards to refining margins. The first half of the year was characterized by depressed margins and low product cracks across the board as demand was still under significant pressure. The second half of 2021 is a story of recovering margins and a strong upside, with various factors contributing to the improvement in refining economics.

In terms of the different products, naphtha prices in a way defied the trend of the two different halves and were strong throughout 2021 as petrochemical demand remained resilient. Naphtha cracks rose to unprecedented levels in the autumn months. This can be attributed to the demand for naphtha in gasoline blending and to LPG use growing significantly because of rising prices for competing petrochemical feedstock. This led to certain levels of switching away from LPG towards naphtha as feedstock for petrochemicals, which supported naphtha demand. The gasoline market started recovering in summer as demand especially in Europe and the US was approaching pre-pandemic levels and continued receiving a boost from Hurricane Ida-related supply disruptions in the United States in autumn.

On the middle distillate side, the start of the year was characterized by a supply overhang and high global inventories, which kept both diesel and jet cracks depressed. An upside was only seen toward the autumn months when diesel demand picked up from the transportation, industrial, and agricultural sector and jet demand grew as a result of a slight improvement in global travel, although it remained far from typical levels. Toward the end of the year, the jet market came under renewed pressure with the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron. In fact, jet demand in 2021 was only around 65% of the pre-COVID-19 level, while other road transportation fuels were very close to 2019 levels (approximately 95%+). Nevertheless, refining margins at the end of 2021 remained solid as Brent prices fell.

High gas prices in the second half of 2021 also put pressure on operating costs at some refineries. Natural gas is needed for hydrogen production, which is used in the hydrocracking and desulphurization processes.

In the markets served by OMV’s Schwechat and Burghausen refineries, we saw higher demand in fuels versus 2020 and sustained very high demand in petrochemicals. Fuels demand in Romania also showed an increase versus 2020 following higher diesel demand. OMV’s European refineries therefore achieved a high utilization rate of 88%.

Despite the challenging environment and unstable demand during the year, commercial sales were ahead of expectations in many areas. Well-executed price management, in both futures and spot markets, enabled delivering margins above the previous year. In some product segments, volumes and margins even exceeded pre-COVID-19 levels, thanks to a strong boost from OMV rapidly capitalizing on local market opportunities. Throughout the year, a strong focus was set on understanding customer needs and increasing customer satisfaction. To closely reflect the market developments and market outlook, OMV’s commercial products and services are being expanded, including launching several new, more sustainable products.

ADNOC Refining & Trading

Alongside majority shareholder ADNOC (65%) and Eni (20%), OMV remains a strategic partner in ADNOC Refining after acquiring 15% of the company’s shares at the end of July 2019. In 2021, ADNOC Refining operated its major refinery in Ruwais, which is the world’s fourth largest refining complex with integrated petrochemicals, and its Abu Dhabi refinery, which closed at the end of 2021 as part of ongoing efficiency and competitiveness improvement initiatives.

In comparison to 2020, ADNOC Refining’s business performance in 2021 benefitted from better operational performance and a higher margin environment, particularly in the second half of the year.

With the same ownership structure as ADNOC Refining, ADNOC Global Trading (AGT) has the mission to trade the majority of ADNOC Refining’s export volumes of products as well as to supply non-domestic crudes, condensates, and other liquids for processing.

AGT extends the successful Refining & Marketing business model into key geographies and to strategic partners. By continuously optimizing trade flows, it allows ADNOC Refining to access attractive non-domestic feedstock sources, maximize netback for products on global markets (e.g., Asia-Pacific), and implement best practices such as risk management.

In 2021, AGT continued on a solid ramp-up trend, closing the first year of operations overall according to plan.

Retail

Despite an ongoing challenging environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the retail business set a new record Operating Result in 2021. The retail business again proved to be a stable outlet for refinery products and a strong cash generator. Total sales partially recovered to 6.4 mn t, equivalent to approximately 7.9 bn l, strongly supported by a growing cards business. At the end of the year, the network comprised 2,088 filling stations (2020: 2,085). OMV continues to focus on its proven multi-brand strategy. The OMV brand is positioned as a premium brand, with VIVA representing a strong shop, gastronomy, and service offering. This is rounded out by the unmanned and value-for-money concepts of the Avanti and Petrom brands. This strategy has continued to deliver solid results, and profitability per site has increased. Sales of OMV’s premium MaxxMotion-brand fuels continued to be strong, thus contributing to record margins and proving the premium-quality advantage, even during the COVID-19 crisis. The non-fuel business, including VIVA convenience stores and car washes, continued to perform well (especially the former), growing about 10% compared to 2020 (excluding the Petrom branded network in Romania where a third-party store partnership with Auchan was introduced). The focus on high-quality products and services in the premium filling station network remains one of OMV’s key differentiators.

In June 2021, a divestment agreement was signed with MOL Group for OMV Slovenia comprising the sale of 119 filling stations. This follows the OMV Group strategy of focusing the retail business on countries where OMV has a strong market position and refinery integration. The closing of the divestment of the OMV network in Germany is expected in 2022; OMV has agreed to sell 285 filling stations to EG Group.

In July 2021, OMV and VERBUND reached an agreement on the sale of OMV’s 40% stake in Smatrics, a joint venture in electromobility, to VERBUND.

Gas supply, marketing, and trading

OMV markets and trades natural gas in nine European countries and in Turkey. In 2021, natural gas sales volumes amounted to 196.4 TWh (2020: 164.0 TWh), an increase of 20%. The foundation for natural gas sales growth is a diverse supply portfolio, which consists of equity gas and a variety of international suppliers. In addition to mid- and long-term activities, short-term activities at the main international hubs (VTP, THE, TTF, PSV) complement OMV’s dynamic supply portfolio.

OMV Gas Marketing & Trading GmbH’s (OMV Gas) sales activities are focused on a diverse and resilient customer portfolio in the large-scale industry and municipality segments. OMV Gas conducts sales activities in Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Belgium, where 2021 sales amounted to 156.2 TWh, up 36% over 2020. Italy, Slovenia, and France are covered by opportunistic origination activities. Increased sales were achieved despite the very challenging and competitive market environment as margins remained under pressure.

In 2021, the European gas market was characterized by unprecedented high gas prices and significant volatility. This situation is expected to continue.

In Romania, OMV Petrom’s gas and power activities delivered a record Operating Result, reflecting strong power business performance and the optimization of both product and customer portfolios. Natural gas sales volumes to third parties reached 38.4 TWh in 2021, a decrease compared to 47.8 TWh in 2020. In 2020, ANRE initiated a gas release program in Romania, whereby natural gas producers are obligated to offer 40% of their production volume to the centralized markets.

In Romania, net electrical output increased to 4.8 TWh in 2021 (2020: 4.2 TWh), with the Brazi power plant contributing approximately 8% of Romania’s electricity production. The plant is also an important player on the power balancing market.

In 2021, OMV Gas again improved the capacity utilization of the Gate regasification terminal. Furthermore, the LNG business provides an additional natural gas source to meet OMV’s ambitious sales growth targets in Northwest Europe, while enhancing supply security for OMV’s geographically diverse supply portfolio. The LNG business also supports portfolio integration of the supply, marketing, and trading businesses.

Gas logistics

OMV operates gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany with a storage capacity of 30 TWh. Additionally, OMV holds a 65% stake in the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH), the leading gas trading hub in Central and Eastern Europe. On May 31, 2021 OMV closed its divestment of its entire 51% stake in Gas Connect Austria to VERBUND.

In 2021, a long cold season that lasted until April reduced the storage levels all over Europe to historically low levels. High global demand, based on recovery from the pandemic and shortage of supply, led to an inverse summer/winter spread, with summer prices exceeding winter prices. Unprecedented volatility of prices across the entire energy complex dominated the market. European storages reached their highest filling levels at the end of October (77%) and decreased to 55% at year-end.

At the Central European Gas Hub, 749 TWh of natural gas was nominated at the Virtual Trading Point (VTP) in 2021. This volume corresponds to approximately nine times Austria’s annual gas consumption. The EEX CEGH Gas Market traded total volumes of 231 TWh in Austria, an increase of 35%, and 28 TWh in the Czech Republic, an increase of 117%.

OMV is a financing partner of the Nord Stream 2 project. OMV’s total payments under the financing agreements for Nord Stream 2 amounted to around EUR 729 mn. Nord Stream 2 AG announced mechanical completion of the offshore part of the first line on June 10, 2021, and of the second line on September 10, 2021. The first fill of technical gas was completed for the first line on October 18, 2021, and for the second line on December 29, 2021. Following the announced US sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG on February 22, 2022, OMV will recognize a value adjustment charge of EUR 987 mn (loan plus accrued interest as of December 31, 2021) due to the fact that receivables from Nord Stream 2 AG may be unrecoverable. Please refer to Note 37 “Subsequent Events” of the Financial Statements for the most recent developments of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the expected impact on OMV Group’s financials.