Romanian oil and gas company Petrom, owned by Austrian OMV, saw its gas sales drop by 6 percent in the last quarter of 2013 on the same quarter of 2012 because of weak demand from the industrial sector and above average temperatures.

Petrom’s gas margins were below last year’s level, according to OMV, which added that the performance of the power business, however, was still impacted by the difficult power market situation in Romania and Turkey.

“The gas logistics business was impacted by continuing challenges in the gas storage market and higher costs in the gas transportation business,” according to the Austrian company.

Petrom posted a net profit of some EUR 823 in the first nine months of 2013, up 27 percent on the same period of 2012. The growth was higher in the third quarter of this year, of 47 percent year-on-year, to some EUR 277 million.

Its sales however decreased by 5 percent at nine months, and by 6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter. The nine-month turnover stood at some EUR 4.07 billion, while the sales for the third quarter were of EUR 1.56 billion.

editor@romania-insider.com