It has been 25 years since Abu Dhabi and Austria signed a consortium agreement that laid the foundation for the strong and enduring commercial partnership
The core of this relationship is Mubadala’s shareholding in OMV based on the fact that Abu Dhabi acquired 13 per cent of OMV shares from Österreichische Industrieholding AG (ÖIAG) in 1994. Abu Dhabi subsequently increased its stake to 24.9 per cent and all the shares were transferred to Mubadala Investment Company in 2019.
The partnership between Abu Dhabi and Austria was further developed in 1997 with initial acquisitions in Borealis, a provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. Building on this partnership, a year later OMV’s wholly-owned subsidiary PCD Polymere GmbH was transferred to Borealis.
These holdings were subsequently increased as a confirmation of their confidence in the business of Borealis and to this date, Mubadala and OMV shareholdings are 64 per cent and 36 per cent respectively. These investments were a major step in the direction of petrochemicals.
Thomas Schmid, CEO of Österreichische Beteiligungs AG (ÖBAG), said, “In this 25-year cooperation, we have succeeded together in establishing OMV as an internationally successful integrated company. And I am confident that OMV’s extensive know-how and experience will further strengthen the existing partnership between Austria and Abu Dhabi.”
Musabbeh Al Kaabi, CEO, petroleum and petrochemicals, Mubadala, added, “We are pleased to have participated in a long-term relationship with OMV, both as a shareholder and as partners in Borealis. OMV’s commitment to Abu Dhabi and the company’s role in the success we have achieved together is greatly valued. We look forward to extending our successful track record of collaboration and investment together.”
In 2018, OMV became a 20 per cent shareholder in the Umm Lulu, SARB, Bin Nasher and Al Bateel offshore concessions of ADNOC. Later that year, OMV and ADNOC signed another concession agreement awarding OMV a 5 per cent interest in the 40-year Ghasha concession. The substantial productions from these investments mark important milestones for OMV in Abu Dhabi.
Earlier this year in 2019, the foundations were laid for OMV to establish a major downstream oil position in Abu Dhabi, with OMV acquiring a 15 per cent stake in ADNOC Refining and a 15 per cent share in a yet-to-be-established trading joint venture. With this acquisition, OMV is set to become a strategic partner in the world’s fourth-largest refinery, part of the Ruwais mega-site, which is integrated into petrochemicals.
In addition, two MoUs were signed by OMV and ADNOC in March to explore further significant opportunities for petrochemical collaboration. One agreement provides for cooperation in the petrochemical sector as well as the exchange of knowledge and experience in petrochemical operations as well as refinery-petrochemical integration and optimisation.
The second MoU intends to explore potential opportunities for cooperation in the area of OMV’s patented ReOil process with the establishment of a joint working group to assess the feasibility of a scalable ReOil plant in the UAE.
Rainer Seele, OMV chairman of the executive board and CEO, stated, “This is the first time OMV has expanded its fully integrated business model beyond Europe. Our extensive expertise in upstream-downstream-petrochemical integration is a core component of our sustainable success and our strengthened position in Abu Dhabi will allow us to move closer to the attractive growth markets in Asia-Pacific. Hence our footprint in Abu Dhabi is a key component of OMV’s Strategy 2025.”
