The presentation of the results for Q4 and January - December 2009

Petrom, the largest oil and gas producer in Southeastern Europe, published its results for the fourth quarter and January – December 2009, on February 25, 2010 at 8:30 (local time).

• Q4/09 EBIT was slightly positive and well above the level of Q4/08, which was negatively impacted by one-off items and a sharp oil price decline; Q4/09 was the second quarter since privatization with negative net profit due to FX losses and interest expenses
• Despite lower volumes, production costs in RON/boe were down by 11% in Q4/09 compared to Q4/08 due to the successful implementation of cost reduction initiatives and the integration of E&P Services; for the full year, the reserve replacement rate in Romania was successfully maintained at 70%
• Total marketing sales decreased in line with market by 21% in Q4/09 compared to Q4/08, mainly driven by lower export sales and due to the challenging Romanian economic environment
• Outlook for 2010: we expect market conditions to remain challenging; we continue our restructuring efforts and focus on strict cost management; priority for 2010 is to secure cash flow for future investments, both to maintain business sustainability and achieve growth potential

You can download the presentation of the results here (pdf format):
Report Q4 and January – December 2009, (PDF, 360,4 KB)

The results will also be reviewed within OMV's analysts and investor conference call broadcast as a live audio-webcast at 11.30 am (CET)/ 12.30 (Bucharest time).

Click here to acces the audio-webcast: http://www.thomson-webcast.net

Mariana Gheorghe, CEO of Petrom:

"Despite the worsening economic environment, 2009 marked the achievement of several milestones. In E&P, several key projects were put on stream. We commissioned the new gas processing plant in Midia, successfully started production at the Komsomolskoe field in Kazakhstan and at two offshore wells in Romania and we maintained the domestic reserve replacement rate at 70%. Moreover, we significantly improved our cost base and we are on track to deliver on our Petromservice acquisition target to achieve an additional reduction of production cost of 1.5 USD/ boe thanks to the successful integration of E&P Services. As gas and fuels market conditions deteriorated over the course of the year, we swiftly adapted our value chain and reviewed our refining and chemicals strategy accordingly. Therefore, we decided to run operations at Arpechim and Doljchim solely on an "as needed" basis and to close Doljchim by the end of 2010. Going forward, we will continue to focus on efficiency and restructuring measures while enhancing capital measures to maintain our business sustainability and achieve our growth potential."