Where OMV now wants to get its gas from

For those gas quantities that no longer go to OMV, Gazprom has other buyers quickly found – partly through new buyers and intermediaries, partly through the stock exchange. Because the Russian gas significantly cheaper than that from other sources, the interest is correspondingly great.

Gazprom gas was simply purchased on the stock exchange

Those too OMV is likely to buy on the stock exchange says Johannes Mayer, head of the economics department at E-Control, to the Austria Press Agency. And a significant part of this could also come indirectly from Gazprom, according to Christoph Dolna-Gruber, who is responsible for strategy at the Energy Agency. Ultimately, it is impossible to understand where the gas purchased on the stock exchange comes from. However, OMV remains nothing else left in order to meet delivery obligations at short notice.

As has been emphasized countless times from all sides in the past few weeks, Gas supply in Austria this winter secured. “The domestic gas storage facilities are 93 percent full, which corresponds to an entire Austrian annual requirement,” says the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection (BMK). Almost all energy companies, including OMV, assure that they are no longer dependent on Russian natural gas and that they have alternative sources of supply. OMV wants to do the same in the future own gas sources tap harder.

New gas discovery could cover needs for six months

In the summer of 2023, OMV announced the largest gas discovery in Austria over the past 40 years. At Wittau A promising reservoir was discovered at a depth of five kilometers in the Gänserndorf district of Lower Austria. It is estimated that it is so large that in total 48 Terawattstunden Gas could be promoted from it. For comparison: Austria as a whole currently consumes around 90 TWh per year. You could basically supply the country for half a year and then the deposit would be empty.

That also reflects that Magnitude well again, at which Austria could currently supply itself with natural gas. Domestic gas production is currently annually a maximum of 8 percent of the requirement covered. In addition to OMV, only two other companies, RAG Austria and ADX Energy from Australia, are authorized to produce domestically. Gas demand in the country is steadily declining due to climate protection efforts and the desire to become more independent from Russia.

“Our goal must be to reduce dependence on gas and reduce consumption overall. In the long term, we must continue to focus on renewable energies and energy efficiency,” says the BMK.

Funding in Wittau possible from 2026

The OMV gas field in Wittau must first be developed. In order to use the potentially recoverable resources of the gas fieldWittau Tief-2aTo determine more precisely, another drilling is planned for the third quarter of 2025. The gas production should be in the second half of 2026 start. According to OMV, the gas discovery supports the ongoing diversification of gas supply sources.

Neptune Deep not operational until 2027

A little further east, OMV is working on developing an even larger gas reserve. It holds a 50 percent stake in the project through its subsidiary OMV Petrom Neptune Deep in the Black Sea. 160 kilometers off the Romanian coast is a 7,500 square kilometer maritime area, under which there is said to be a huge deposit with a volume of around 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

The funding is here much more difficult. First, the mobile Transocean Barents offshore drilling rig will carry out test drilling on the seabed. This is 100 to 1,000 meters deep in the Neptune Deep area. The drilling platform arrived in the Romanian city of Constanta on Monday. It will take some time before gas flows regularly. The project partners are currently counting 2027. The necessary investment volume is increased four billion euros appreciated.