Romania's largest oil and gas company OMV Petrom (SNP.RO) will invest 6.9 billion lei ($2.23 billion) in 2010, up 66% on the year, chief executive Mariana Gheorghe told news agency Mediafax on Monday.
She said the company would announce in two months at most its objectives for 2015, but they won't be much different from the ones presented in 2008. "The strategic objectives remain essentially the same, but some targets may be changed," Gheorghe said.
In 2008, Petrom reduced the forecast on its crude oil output in the Caspian region and Russia from 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day to 20,000 BOE/day, after reassessing the opportunity of acquisitions in the area.
Petrom, majority owned by Austria's OMV (OMV.VI) also announced at that time the increase of the investment budget to EUR1.5 billion a year.
On the other hand, the company looked to stabilize its daily output in Romania at around 210,000 BOE, and to cut the production costs.
Last year, Petrom dropped its plans to increase the capabilities of its Petrobrazi refinery, but even announced it would cut the annual refining capacity to 4.2 million metric tons from 4.5 million tons. Also, it decided to exit the petrochemical business.
However, it has entered the power generation market, saying it plans to make the transition from a pure oil and gas company to an energy player.