European energy giant considers Turkey as its third business hub

TUBA PARLAK

LONDON – Hürriyet Daily News

Representatives of a European energy giant told a press conference in Istanbul on Friday that the company intended to expand its Turkish operations, following the recent purchase of a local petrol supply chain.

Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, CEO of Austrian giant OMV told the press conference the company intended to turn the recently purchased Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s largest chain of petrol stations, into an energy company by integrating all their Turkish operations. “We value the company very much and plan to create a complex energy company out of it for actualization of all our future energy investments in Turkey. We will do this by integrating the gas and power investments operating beneath it,” he said.

He said OMV is happy with its employees at the chain and only plans to modernize the stations. The group is not considering any reduction of the number or employees, he said.

The Austrian giant, with operations in oil, gas, electricity and renewable energy, aims to develop Turkey into its third business hub, following Vienna and Bucharest, by integrating the country into its core market for refining and marketing, or R&M, thus also establishing Turkey as a link to resource supplies in both northern Iraq and the Caspian.

Benefiting from an integrated business model

Ruttenstorfer made a presentation at the conference which mainly focused on the company’s expansion and its future plans in regions throughout Eastern and Southeast Europe and Turkey. OMV has 20 percent R&M market share in the region, he said.

“Integrated activities from upstream assets, supply and logistics, refining to marketing and trading and power generation are key advantages for OMV,” he said.

He also noted that Turkey played a key role in the company’s integrated regional business scheme due to its proximity to Caspian and northern Iraq oil reserves. “As a market distribution line, Petrol Ofisi is of utmost importance for the integrated business model we plan to launch in Turkey and its surrounding regions because of its optimal logistics position in leveraging seaborne product supply potentials,” he said.

Potential participation to a refinery

Ruttenstorfer stressed that growth in energy demand is currently mainly driven by emerging nations – as developed countries are recording only limited growth. According to the company’s estimates, by 2015 the energy demand growth rate in Turkey will be 12 percent for oil, 31 percent for gas and 37 percent for power, making Turkey an essential component in the OMV portfolio.

Regarding Turkey’s exploration and production opportunities, Ruttenstorfer said his company might consider a minority participation in a possible refinery in Ceyhan, in the Mediterranean province of Adana, provided that they anticipate an integration benefit for equity crude.

No green investments in Turkey

Ruttenstorfer said both the dynamics in the renewables sector and the carbon emissions regime continued to be a driving force for significant changes currently shaping the energy landscape in Europe and that the EU was again striving to limit carbon dioxide emissions to 30 percent, adding that the regulatory regime may change to incentivize investments in secure peak capacity – which would impact power economics.

He also said renewable energy investments constituted a significant portion of OMV’s overall business and investment strategy. However, Ruttenstorfer also said the company currently has no plans to invest in Turkish renewables, although they were keeping an eye on developments in the sector.