OMV Petrom Raises Annual Budget by 23 Percent

OMV Petrom SA shareholders on Tuesday approved RON 9 billion ($2.07 billion) in investment for 2026, up 23 percent from 2025.

About 60 percent of the budget is for Neptun Deep in the Black Sea, estimated to cost up to EUR 4 billion ($4.68 billion). The biggest natural gas project and the first deep offshore development in Romania, Neptun Deep is expected to produce the equivalent of roughly 30 times the current annual demand of about 4.3 million households in Romania, according to OMV Petrom. Neptun Deep is estimated to hold around 100 billion cubic meters (3.53 trillion cubic feet) of recoverable gas.

OMV Petrom, which owns a 50 percent operating stake in Neptun Deep, and SNGN Romgaz SA, which holds the other half, expect to start production at the project 2027.

OMV Petrom's shareholder meeting also approved a dividend per share of RON 0.0578, consisting of RON 0.0466 base and RON 0.0112 special. "The total dividends for 2025 amount to 3.6 billion lei, representing 40 percent of the operating cash flow of OMV Petrom Group for 2025", OMV Petrom said.

Its current policy involves an annual base dividend increase of 5-10 percent and a payout ratio of 40-70 percent of operating cash flow.

“In a context marked by geopolitical tensions and volatility in energy markets, OMV Petrom remains a reliable partner for Romania", said chief executive Christina Verchere. "We supply one-third of the country's fuel and natural gas needs, contribute around 10 percent of its power generation, and, in 2025, we paid over 16 billion lei to the state through taxes and dividends.

"In 2026, we are investing 9 billion lei to advance our major projects: Neptun Deep is progressing toward first gas in 2027, the sustainable fuels project at Petrobrazi is moving forward, and our renewable energy projects are entering the implementation phase".

OMV Petrom has scheduled the release of its first quarter (Q1) results for Thursday.

Provisional data it published April 9 showed an average production of 104,200 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed), compared to actual productions of 103,500 boed in the prior three-month period and 107,500 in Q1 2025.

Q1 2026 output consisted of 45,800 boed of crude oil and natural gas liquids - down quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year -  and 58,400 boed of gas - up quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.

Q1 2026 sales volumes increased sequentially but fell by prior-year comparison to 99,600 boed. Liquids sales declined quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year while gas sales rose quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.

Downstream, sales of refined products dropped quarter-on-quarter but increased year-on-year to 1.2 million metric tons. Refinery utilization weakened quarter-on-quarter but was stable year-on-year at 98 percent. Refining margins fell quarter-on-quarter but nearly doubled year-on-year.

OMV Petrom is an integrated energy company with investments from Austria's state-backed OMV AG and the Romanian government.

To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com