OMV lines up stake in Gazprom’s Achimov developments

Austria’s OMV signed a basic sale agreement with Russia’s Gazprom to purchase interest in the Achimov IV and V phase development in the Urengoy gas and condensate field. 

According to OMV’s statement, the stake would be 24.98 percent with the price left to be negotiated.

With the new agreement, Gazprom has given up on swapping assets with OMV that would have given it 38.5 percent interest in OMV (NORGE).

The agreement signed in December 2016 raised a few questions in Norway, Platts reports, with the government voicing its concerns over Gazprom’s involvement in exploration off Norway. It was seen as a risk to Europe’s energy security given Gazprom’s already dominant role in the market.

OMV added that the execution and implementation of the potential transaction depends on agreeing on the final transaction documents.

The signing of the final transaction documents is expected at the beginning of the year 2019.