Oil and gas company OMV Petrom posted a record profit during the first quarter of this year, of some EUR 381 million, an increase of 65 percent on the same period of 2011, according to the company. Its sales went up to a lesser extent – 21 percent, to some EUR 1.3 billion.

"In Q1, 2012, the higher crude price and a stronger USD against RON positively impacted our results in the exploration and production segment, whilst placing a further burden on refining and marketing margins and volumes,” said  Mariana Gheorghe, the Petrom general manager, in a statement.

“Our gas sales volumes benefited from the harsh winter and we also recorded improved margins, mainly on gas extracted from storage,” she went on. The harsh winter has however impacted Petrom's volumes, with daily oil and gas production decreasing slightly compared to the first quarter of 2011.

Total marketing sales volumes decreased by 7 percent year – on – year due to both severe weather conditions and a difficult price environment, according to Petrom.

The company's exploration expenses doubled compared to the first quarter of 2011, amounting to some EUR 61 million, predominantly as a result of the first deep offshore well (Domino 1) drilled in the Black Sea in joint venture with ExxonMobil.

Petrom recently discovered, together with Exxon, a natural gas reserve in Romania’s Black Sea, some 84 billion cubic meters of gas in the Neptune perimeter.

Petrom, majority owned by Austrian OMV, expects a new record profit this year, of some EUR 867.8 million (RON 3.784 billion), higher than last year- when expressed in local currency- even if its turnover is forecast to drop in 2012. The budgeted turnover for 2012 is of EUR 3.6 billion, down 4.6 percent on 2011.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Arhivafoto.ro)