MOL Discovers Oil in Western Hungary

MOL Plc said it has discovered a new oil field near Somogysámson in Western Hungary.

The company found oil at a depth of (4,100 feet) 1,250 meters during exploration drilling in December 2024. According to the results, the well located in the Somogysámson oilfield is capable of producing 1,200 barrels per day, MOL said.

Production from the new well is being transported by truck to the Danube Refinery in Százhalombatta and represents approximately one percent of the MOL Group's total hydrocarbon production, according to the release.

Zsombor Marton, MOL Group Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production, said, "I am very proud to announce that, after the exploration successes of the recent years, we have once again discovered a new oil field – this time in the Transdanubian region, where we last discovered oil more than a decade ago.”

“The fact that we achieved this success in the concession belonging to Bázakerettye, which has an almost 100-year oil industry tradition, is clear evidence that there is still potential in hydrocarbon exploration in Hungary. We are discovering previously unknown hydrocarbon deposits one after the other and further strengthening the country's security of supply: with the oil deposits in Vecsés and Tura and the natural gas fields in Eastern Hungary, we have reached a five-year peak in domestic production,” Martona added.

“As a landlocked country, our oil supply is largely via pipelines and intermediaries. It is clear that we need to reduce Hungary's import dependence by all means available. We will continue our investments and will continue to do our utmost to maintain and, if possible, increase production," MOL Hungary COO György Bacsa said.

Fourth Quarter Results

In the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release, it reported profit before tax decreased by 23 percent year on year “almost due to external environmental impacts”.

MOL’s Downstream segment performed in line with the company’s strategic goals in 2024, with a slight decline compared to 2023, “mainly due to the continued downtrend in refining margins and heavy turnarounds throughout the first nine months of the year,” it said.

The company’s Upstream segment contributed significantly to group performance, with fourth-quarter results supported by both the price environment and production volumes, according to the release.

Meanwhile, MOL said its Gas Midstream segment performance remained stable year-on-year, supported by higher transmission activities but impacted adversely by foreign exchange effects.

MOL Chairman and CEO Zsolt Hernádisaid, “2024 was not an easy year for MOL Group. The Ukrainian-Russian war still imposed challenges which we had to tackle in order to guarantee the security of supply in our countries. Also, regulations, government takes were still shaping the landscape of our business. On top of this, the uncertainties around the whole oil industry’s future have been still in the air. All of these put their marks on our profitability. Despite all this we managed to maintain a stable operation – of which I am very proud. Although last year the external environment limited our growth potential, we continued to selectively expand our portfolio, made progress with our strategic investments and took important steps to further strengthen the security of supply in the region”.

MOL Group describes itself as an international, integrated oil, gas, petrochemicals and consumer retail company, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It operates three refineries and two petrochemical plants under integrated supply chain management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia.

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