Austria’s OMV in negotiations to divest Bayernoil stake

LONDON (ICIS)–Austria’s OMV is in negotiations with potential buyers of its 45% stake in the Bayernoil refining network, the oil, gas and petrochemicals group said on Wednesday.

OMV said it has opted to pursue the divestment of the Bayernoil holding because the German concern does not have an integrated petrochemical operation.

“Integration is an essential part of our strategy and we will continue focusing the refining business on refineries with integrated petrochemicals,” said OMV spokeswoman Sibylle Tinhof.

In September 2011, OMV said it planned to divest up to €1bn ($1.3bn) of assets by 2014 as part of its 10-year strategy through to 2021. The strategy aimed to increase OMV’s strategic focus on exploration and production (E&P) and included the objective of changing the product yield of the group’s refineries towards market demand for middle distillates and petrochemical feedstock.

“We have been working hard since late 2011 to achieve our goals,” said Tinhof, adding: “Our divestment plan is on track, everything is going to plan.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Fitch Ratings responded to OMV’s Tuesday announcement that it had agreed to pay $2.65bn to acquire several upstream oil and gas assets in the North Sea from Norway’s Statoil by affirming the group’s Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating at ‘A-‘ with a Stable Outlook.

Bayernoil boasts the largest refining network in the Bavarian region and has a refining capacity of 4.6m tonnes/year.

OMV has three other refining assets: Schwechat in Austria, and Burghausen in southern Germany, which both have integrated petrochemical production, and Petrobrazi in Romania, which is fully geared to process Romanian crude oil.

($1 = €0.75)