TEHRAN Oct. 17 (Shana) - A senior official with Austrian oil giant OMV said the company is interested in technical cooperation with Iran for developing the country's oil and gas fields.
�Stronger technical cooperation in potential field developments in Iran by using new or existing technology" are on the company's future agenda in cooperating with its Iranian counterparts, Stephan Hannke, head of Petroleum Engineering for the Middle East and Caspian Area in OMV, told the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry�s (RIPI) Public Relations Office.

Hannke delivered a keynote speech at the 2nd International Conference on Technical Opportunities (ICTO) here in Tehran which was held on September 30 by RIPI with the theme technology application for Brown- and Greenfields in the world of OMV.

�sterreichische Mineral�lverwaltung (OMV) opened an office in Teheran back in 2001, after signing an Exploration Service Contract for the Mehr block, a successful exploration and appraisal program was conducted between 2002 and 2007. The company engaged in talks for redevelopment of Cheshmeh-Khosh between National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and OMV/CEPSA in 2004-05, said Hannke.

The company had to leave Iran in 2008 as Iran was hit by the first wave of US-led sanctions on its peaceful nuclear program. The company, however, maintained its relations with Iran through an office in Tehran in which it conducted extensive exploration studies with NIOC.

With Group sales of EUR 36 billion and a workforce of around 25,500 employees in 2014, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria�s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Romania and Austria and a balanced international portfolio.

OMV had proven reserves of 1.09 mn boe at year-end and a production of 309 kboe/d in 2014. Around 70% of its production came from Romania and Austria, the remainder from a growing international portfolio. The oil/gas split in production is roughly 50/50.

In downstream, OMV has an annual refining capacity of 17.4 mn tonnes and approximately 4,100 filling stations in 11 countries as of end of 2014. OMV operates a gas pipeline network in Austria and gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany. In 2014, gas sales volumes amounted to 123 TWh.

By SHANA