Romania
Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:12am EST
* Black Sea gas find could be biggest in OMV history
* Q4 clean CCS EBIT 730 million eur vs poll avg 582 mln
* Proposes raising dividend 10 pct to 1.10 eur/shr
* Shares in OMV, Petrom rise
By Michael Shields
VIENNA, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The first successful Black Sea well has made what could be OMV's biggest gas find ever, the Austrian group said, capping a red-letter day as its Libyan output approached pre-war levels and its results smashed expectations.
The offshore well jointly owned by Exxon Mobil and OMV's Romanian unit Petrom has discovered what could be up to 3 trillion cubic feet (84 billion cubic meters) of gas, it said, citing preliminary estimates
This is something that happens just once in a manager's lifetime, and today is the day," Chief Executive Gerhard Roiss told reporters, breaking the news during OMV's 2011 results press conference on Wednesday.
Exploration and production head Jaap Huijskes said officials would meet ExxonMobil counterparts to plan the next steps for the well, which could start up around the end of the decade.
"It is the first successful deepwater well in the entire Black Sea, so this is significant," he said.
"Any production will cost billions and billions of dollars. This is not going to be a cheap development if it proves to be economic, although that is still up for debate."
MORE AT:
https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/22/omv-results-idUSL5E8DM0D320120222