“Sustainable” reserves

While OMV expands its exploration and production, it focuses on less risky projects with a lower sustainability risk.

OMV does not invest in oil sands, and pilot projects in shale gas have been discontinued. The group also avoids

ecological hotspots such as the Arctic or the Amazon. OMV’s reserves therefore harbour a lower risk in terms of

biodiversity, water, and greenhouse gases.

 

OMV has installed a very efficient environmental management system. Its carbon emissions are only half the peer

group average, and a fifth of those of oil sand producers such as Suncor. OMV’s water consumption is among the

lowest in the industry, as are the emissions of toxic byproducts of oil production and refinement. Bio fuels are

subject to stringent sustainability criteria. Only the relatively high share of oil (close to 60%) in terms of OMV’s

energy reserves could represent a sales risk in comparison with clean natural gas, if the international or European

climate policies were to tighten.

 

A stable environment

The group’s new focus on the production in OECD states has also come with numerous positive effects in terms

of its social performance. The politically stable environment reduces the risk of corruption and the risk of becoming

involved in human rights violations, such as for example Shell in the Niger Delta. The employees benefit from the

high safety and security standards.

 

OMV’s anti-corruption and human rights programmes are listed among the most progressive ones in the industry.

This is of particular importance in countries like Libya, which continues to contribute a large share of group

production, and where armed conflicts have interrupted operations in the past years. OMV‘s investment in

Gazprom‘s South Stream pipeline, and ongoing corporate governance problems also pose new challenges to

the group‘s sustainability risk management.

 

(Dominik Benedikt)