OMV in EUR400 mln cost-cutting drive to boost competitiveness

OMV AG (Vienna) has announced plans to cut costs by up to €400 million by the end of 2027 as part of a group-wide review to improve its competitiveness and “streamline operations and portfolio”, as per Chemweek.

The efficiency measures will increase the company’s flexibility and enhance its long-term resilience amid a volatile market environment, it said on Sept. 12.

OMV said it is in “ongoing negotiation” with employee representatives on a currently estimated potential mid-three-digits labor impact in Austria. “Further details will be announced in due time,” it said.

No specific locations or facilities were detailed by OMV in its statement. OMV operates integrated crude oil refineries and petrochemical complexes in Austria, Germany and Romania.

The company’s petrochemical joint ventures Borealis AG and Borouge PLC were not mentioned in the announcement, and no statements were issued by either JV, which are currently in the process of being merged.

OMV said the potential cost savings identified would contribute to the delivery of a €500 million improvement in the company’s operating cash flow, which was announced at OMV’s Capital Markets Day in June 2024.

OMV remains “fully committed to delivering on its Strategy 2030, aimed at reaping the benefits of its integrated business model across the cyclical businesses in chemicals, fuels and energy,” it said. The company aims to increase the focus and prioritize business activities on “value-adding areas for investment,” it said, adding that it will also increase standardization of its activities through additional deployment of technologies such as AI, digital tools and automation.

In July, OMV raised its full-year forecast for olefins and polyethylene margins and overall polyolefin sales volumes after seeing better-than-expected chemicals performance in the first half of 2025.

mrchub.com

Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has proposed to fuel market and St. Petersburg commodities exchange participants to work out mechanisms to prevent price spikes in exchange trading, the regulator said, as per Interfax.

"On September 10, at a meeting of the Exchange Committee, the FAS of Russia proposed to market and St. Petersburg exchange participants to jointly work out market mechanisms that would make it possible to prevent peak values in trading for the sale of fuel," the regulator said.

The FAS recalled that it constantly monitors prices at 12,000 filling stations and takes antimonopoly response measures if it finds unjustified price increases.

"A number of regional agencies are now considering taking measures against businesses that have a dominant position. The FAS earlier opened a case against Gazprom GNP Sales LLC - in May-June 2025 the company reduced sales of gasoline on the exchange: AI-92 by 74% and AI-95 by 50%. The next meeting is planned for September 18, 2025," the regulator said.

The St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) tightened rules for gasoline trading on Monday, which is expected to help stop the growth of prices for this fuel.

mrchub.com

Slovakia has made its approval of another package of sanctions against Russia conditional on the European Commission's position on a number of issues that the country considers vital, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday following a meeting with the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, as per Interfax.

Fico will not support another sanctions package until the commission presents proposals on electricity prices in Europe, Slovak media reported.

In addition, the climate agenda targets set by the European Commission are causing concern in Bratislava. The commission must present realistic proposals for aligning it with the needs of the automotive industry and heavy industry, Fico said.

We remind, a gas processing plant forming part of the Ethane-Containing Gas Processing Complex (ECGPC) near Ust-Luga is now 63% ready. Miller's comments during a conference call with Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko were broadcast on the NTV television channel.

mrchub.com

A gas processing plant forming part of the Ethane-Containing Gas Processing Complex (ECGPC) near Ust-Luga is now 63% ready, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said, as per Interfax.

Miller's comments during a conference call with Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko were broadcast on the NTV television channel. The plant will be "one of the largest gas processing complexes in the world, and its completion rate is already 63%," Drozdenko said.

As reported, the company said at the end of 2024 that the construction plan was 46% complete, and the figure stood at 57% in June.

The project includes a gas processing plant, a natural gas liquefaction plant and transport infrastructure facilities.

The facility will process ethane-containing natural gas extracted by Gazprom from the Achimov and Valanginian deposits of the Nadym-Pur-Taz region. The gas processing capacity will amount to 45 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, including 19 bcm of commercial gas, 13 million tonnes of LNG, up to 3.6 million tonnes of ethane fraction and 1.8 million tonnes of LPG and pentane-hexane fraction.

mrchub.com

The changes in rules for trading gasoline that were introduced on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) on September 8 are temporary, intended to stabilize the price situation and are supported by most trading participants, the Russian Energy Ministry's press service told Interfax in response to questions about the tightening of the trading rules, as per Interfax.

"The Energy Ministry of Russia conducted consultations on the changes to the mechanics of automobile gasoline trading on the exchange, both with oil companies and with the largest trading community associations, as well as with the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS) and the Central Bank of Russia (CBR). The absolute majority of market participants supported these measures aimed at stabilizing the price situation and cooling heightened demand in the exchange sales channel," the ministry said in a statement.

"These measures will make it possible to preserve the market principles of exchange pricing, maintain the liquidity and transparency of exchange trading, and they are of a short-term temporary nature," the ministry said.

"The St. Petersburg exchange provides the Energy Ministry with the necessary information to daily monitor the influence of the changes on the efficiency of exchange trading, on the basis of which prompt decisions will be made if necessary. In the first two days of their application, the new measures made it possible to ensure the stabilization and even reduction of wholesale exchange prices for automobile gasoline. The Energy Ministry will continue to follow the situation on the motor fuel market," the ministry said.

SPIMEX on Monday tightened the rules for gasoline trading, which is expected to help stop the growth of prices for this fuel. The exchange notified trading participants that new requirements for purchase bids went into effect as of September 8.

The maximum boundaries for fluctuations in prices for Regular-92 and Premium-95 with delivery by railway are now +0.01%/-20% of the current market price for the exchange instrument. There is also a buyer bids accumulation regime and opening auction regime: one purchase bid in the amount of one lot is allowed from one trading participant for one exchange instrument for the commodities Regular-92 and Premium-95. A double auction is also used, with up to 15 purchase bids in the amount of up to three lots in each bid allowed for one exchange instrument for the commodities Regular-92 and Premium-95.

Interfax sources on the fuel market said the new measures are a tight restriction on trading intended to stop the growth of gasoline prices.

The CBR told Interfax that, under the rules for conducting organized trading in the Oil Products section, the St. Petersburg exchange has the right to make changes in the design of trading.

"Including set maximum boundaries for price fluctuations, as well as restrictions on the number of lots in bids and the number of bids themselves. Such changes are intended to prevent high volatility on the organized oil products market, ensuring the possibility for trading participants to place bids with prices that are as close as possible to current market prices," the CBR's press service said.

The price of Regular-92 gasoline on SPIMEX started climbing again in the first week of September after falling at the end of August. Gasoline prices last month broke the record highs reached at the peak of the fuel price crisis of 2023, in response to which on September 21, 2023 Russia imposed a ban on oil product exports for the first time ever.

At the end of this past August, gasoline prices dropped through the efforts of all trading participants, giving oil companies hopes of receiving damper subsidy payments if they are adjusted retroactively. But the growth of gasoline prices on the exchange resumed at the start of September, raising the question of whether they will now get the damper payments for this month.
mrchub.com