2030 Strategic Priorities
- Actively manage and high-grade the oil and gas portfolio; reposition as a Europe-centric player
- Deliver the operated Neptun Deep project, the largest natural gas development project in the EU
- Strengthen and diversify the gas portfolio in the west and leverage power and gas in Romania
- Build a profitable low-carbon business in three areas: geothermal energy, renewable power, and Carbon Capture and Storage
In its oil and gas portfolio, OMV is maintaining its production target of around 350 kboe/d for 2030, with a focus on natural gas as a transition fuel contributing about 60% of the total volume. The Group will continue to high-grade its portfolio through both organic and inorganic projects, ensuring that the investments align with strategic objectives. For the purpose of assessing investment opportunities, a payback period of less than ten years is expected for cash flow accretive projects before 2030, and an IRR of at least 12% in investment-grade countries and at least 15.5% in non-investment-grade countries. Exploration activities will be focused primarily on near-field development close to existing fields and export infrastructure. Overall, the Group portfolio is expected to have a production cost of below USD 9/boe by 2030, ensuring that operations remain competitive in the evolving energy landscape. Additionally, a cash break-even price below USD 30/boe is being prioritized to safeguard financial stability.
OMV is refocusing its production portfolio on three core regions: North, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and South. In the North region, the focus will be on managing the portfolio in Norway and high grading the Norwegian Continental Shelf to manage decline, with gas being the priority. This will include potential inorganic opportunities and leveraging tax synergies in the country.
In the Central and Eastern Europe region, OMV will effectively manage the decline of mature fields and ensure the longevity of its operations. Additionally, the Group is committed to delivering the Neptun Deep gas development project, which will add production capacity of around 70 kboe/d to the OMV portfolio. The Neptun Deep development is well on track, with the first development wells expected in 2025 and first gas by 2027. Also in the CEE region, OMV aims to leverage the growth opportunities presented by the Black Sea region based on its current strong position through strategic partnerships and investments.
In the South region, OMV is committed to strengthening the position in North Africa and the Mediterranean to complement the existing position in the UAE. This strategic expansion will allow OMV to diversify the portfolio and enhance overall resilience, as these regions provide significant potential.
In the Gas Marketing & Power business, OMV aims to further strengthen and diversify its portfolio in Western Europe and leverage the gas and power business in Romania. In terms of gas sales, the Group has successfully diversified its supply sources. As of December 2024, OMV no longer supplies gas from Gazprom. OMV has secured around 40 TWh p.a. of European transportation capacities into Austria via Germany and Italy for the period 2024–2026, ensuring it can meet all customers’ commitments. This will enable the Company to supply equity gas and third-party volumes from Norway to Austria, as well as LNG volumes leveraging the share in regasification capacities at the Gate LNG terminal in Rotterdam. OMV also aims to include green gases in its sales portfolio to reduce the carbon intensity of its product portfolio. In terms of power generation, the Group continues to benefit from the integration of gas and electricity in Romania, with profitability driven by power margins and spark spreads, alongside balancing services and integration with renewable power capacities. Overall, the Gas Marketing & Power business will continue to be a significant earnings contributor, with an estimated medium-term clean Operating Result of around EUR 300 mn p.a.
OMV aims to build a profitable low-carbon business with a material contribution by 2030 and after that achieve growth with a focus on three areas: geothermal energy, renewable power, and Carbon Capture and Storage. In June 2024, OMV announced an increase in its renewable power target to 3–4 TWh by 2030, while making sure it achieves an IRR of at least 10%. The growth is focused primarily on Romania, using the attractive market conditions in that region. OMV has a robust pipeline of renewable energy projects in addition to its existing 860 MW CCGT (combined-cycle gas turbine) power plant in Romania. OMV Petrom has already secured around 2.4 TWh p.a. of prospective power production by 2030. Several major M&A transactions were closed in 2024 in Romania, partnering with reputable companies already involved in renewable power generation. In September 2024, OMV Petrom closed the transaction with Jantzen Renewables for the acquisition of several photovoltaic projects in Romania, totaling approximately 710 MW of photovoltaic capacity at the “ready-to-build” stage. In November, the Company awarded the EPCC contract for the photovoltaic power plant in Ișalnița with a capacity of approximately 89 MW, beginning the execution phase. In addition, in October 2024, OMV Petrom completed the acquisition of 50% of the shares in Electrocentrale Borzești from RNV Infrastructure. The renewable energy projects have a capacity of approximately 1,000 MW, comprising 950 MW of wind power and 50 MW of photovoltaic capacity. The wind projects will be developed, built, and operated in partnership with RNV Infrastructure. The photovoltaic project has already been built and is currently in production tests.
This integrated portfolio allows the Group to leverage existing infrastructure while expanding renewable energy capacity. Furthermore, with the availability of European Union funding in Romania, the aim is for OMV Petrom to become a market leader in renewables. OMV is also seeking opportunities to strengthen its renewables presence in neighboring countries to Romania, such as Serbia, Bulgaria, and Hungary. By expanding its reach, OMV can tap into additional growth markets and contribute to the region’s renewable energy transition. In parallel, OMV is actively building a portfolio of Power Purchase Agreements in Western Europe, and selectively invests in equity positions in renewable power projects to reduce its Scope 2 emissions. By integrating the renewable energy operations with the Fuels & Feedstock segment, the Group can achieve synergies and enhance returns.
In geothermal energy and Carbon Capture and Storage, OMV is aiming for lower targets than initially anticipated, however with potential for growth and expansion beyond 2030. The Group expects the targets set in 2022 to be reached in the early 2030s. The Group is targeting around 4 TWh of geothermal energy by 2030 with an IRR of at least 10%. OMV will utilize the E&P expertise and capabilities in handling molecules and understanding geology that it has gained over several decades. The focus of geothermal energy will be to decarbonize district heating networks, large infrastructure operators, and industrial plants. OMV uses two types of technology in the development of geothermal energy. The existing open-loop technology relies on a natural aquifer to produce and recycle the hot water. The second technology – closed loop – requires only a hot rock, where the water is injected and recycled, producing energy. This technology has great potential for scalability, as it does not rely on natural aquifers.
In 2023, OMV formed a joint venture with Wien Energie, which operates one of the largest district heating networks in Europe, to explore and develop the potential of the Vienna basin using the open-loop technology. The drilling of the first well commenced on December 16, 2024, and the first deep geothermal plant is expected to start up in 2028. The long-term plan of the joint venture is to scale up capacity to 200 MW, which could provide energy to approximately half of Vienna’s households that use district heating today. In addition to the joint venture with Wien Energie, in 2023 OMV became a minority shareholder in Eavor, a Canadian company specializing in innovative closed-loop geothermal technology. At present, the Company is conducting tests to assess the commercial viability of this technology in Germany, a market that holds immense potential of up to 10 TWh by 2030.
For its Carbon Capture and Storage ambitions, OMV is aiming for a total capacity of around 3 mn t p.a. by 2030. The progress in CCS relies on external factors such as investments from customers and the availability of an attractive and guaranteed carbon price. OMV has so far been awarded two CO2 storage licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The first one, in which OMV holds a 50% stake with Aker BP, has a total potential storage capacity of more than 5 mn t of CO2 p.a. The second license, in which OMV holds a 30% stake in partnership with Vår Energi and Lime Petroleum, has a storage capacity of more than 7.5 mn t of CO2 p.a. A drill or drop decision for both projects is expected in 2025.
The Low Carbon Business is projected to generate a cash flow contribution of around EUR 400 mn by 2030 and grow to around EUR 600 mn by 2035 from the same projects. Total organic CAPEX in Energy will average EUR 1.7 bn p.a. in 2024–2030, which represents around 45% of the Group’s organic CAPEX. Approximately 35% of the total organic CAPEX for the period is allocated to the Low Carbon Business, 15% to the Neptun Deep project, and the remaining 50% will be invested in the exploration and production business. By 2030, the clean Operating Result of Energy is expected to increase to around EUR 2.9 bn, while the cash flow from operations is anticipated to grow to more than EUR 3 bn.