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OIL

Austrian energy group OMV snaps up stake in Russian gas field

Austria's OMV said that it is buying a 24.99-percent stake in one of Russia's biggest gas fields for $1.85 billion.

Published: 6 March 2017 13:41 CET
Austrian energy group OMV snaps up stake in Russian gas field
OMV's headquarters in Vienna. Photo: AFP

The Yuzhno-Russkoye field in western Siberia produces 25 billion cubic metres per year, OMV said late on Sunday.

“The gas produced there is the key resource for the Nord Stream pipeline transporting Russian gas straight to Germany,” OMV said in a statement.

OMV is buying the stake from Uniper, a unit of Germany's EON. Russia's Gazprom is the biggest shareholder in the gas field with 40 percent.

The deal is expected to be finalised by the end of the year, provided it receives the necessary regulatory approvals, OMV said.

OMV and Gazprom are deepening ties as Russia intensifies cooperation with its old partners in western Europe amid international sanctions over Ukraine, Bloomberg reported.

BUSINESS

France’s EDF hails €10billion profit, despite huge UK nuclear charge

French energy giant EDF has unveiled net profit of €10billion and cut its massive debt by increasing nuclear production after problems forced some plants offline.

Published: 16 February 2024 10:45 CET
France's EDF hails €10billion profit, despite huge UK nuclear charge

EDF hailed an “exceptional” year after its loss of €17.9billion in 2022.

Sales slipped 2.6 percent to €139.7billion , but the group managed to slice debt by €10billion euros to €54.4billion.

EDF said however that it had booked a €12.9 billion depreciation linked to difficulties at its Hinkley Point nuclear plant in Britain.

The charge includes €11.2 billion for Hinkley Point assets and €1.7billion at its British subsidiary, EDF Energy, the group explained.

EDF announced last month a fresh delay and additional costs for the giant project hit by repeated cost overruns.

“The year was marked by many events, in particular by the recovery of production and the company’s mobilisation around production recovery,” CEO Luc Remont told reporters.

EDF put its strong showing down to a strong operational performance, notably a significant increase in nuclear generation in France at a time of historically high prices.

That followed a drop in nuclear output in France in 2022. The group had to deal with stress corrosion problems at some reactors while also facing government orders to limit price rises.

The French reactors last year produced around 320.4 TWh, in the upper range of expectations.

Nuclear production had slid back in 2022 to 279 TWh, its lowest level in three decades, because of the corrosion problems and maintenance changes after
the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hinkley Point C is one of a small number of European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) worldwide, an EDF-led design that has been plagued by cost overruns
running into billions of euros and years of construction delays.

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