The story
In late 2004, Petrom was privatized by the Romanian state and sold to Austrian oil company OMV, which acquired of the previous SNP Petrom SA. As of 2005, it was the largest privatization deal in Romania's history.
Until 2005, Petrom owned six offshore drilling platforms, of which five, GSP Atlas, GSP Jupiter, GSP Orizont, GSP Prometeu and GSP Saturn were sold to Grup Servicii Petroliere for US$100 million.
In January 2006, Petrom purchased OMV's operations in Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia and Montenegro. As a result of the transaction, the gas station networks of OMV were transferred to Petrom, but continued to operate under the OMV brand.
From 1 January 2010, the company changed its name to OMV Petrom.
In April 2010, OMV Petrom expanded the portfolio of its projects, in terms of electricity production, through the acquisition of 100% of the SC Wind Power Park SRL, a developer of the Dorobanţu Wind Farm.
On May 18, 2010, OMV Petrom announced the conclusion of an offshore campaign in the Lebăda Est and Lebăda Vest fields, located at the Histria block in the Black Sea. Following this offshore campaign, additional production of more than 300,000 boe was expected in 2010, from two existing wells (LO2 and LO4) and a new well drilled (LV05).
On June 1, 2010, OMV Petrom announced the start-up of the Hurezani gas delivery system, a project intended to optimize gas delivery into the national transportation network in periods when pressure in the system was very high.
On July 12, 2010, OMV Petrom announced the signing of a 15-year production enhancement contract for several fields in the area of Țicleni, Southwest Romania, with Petrofac, a leading international provider of facilities solutions to the oil and gas production and processing industry. Petrofac will perform services in the respective fields in order to maximize production while improving operational efficiency. The partnership targets cumulative production enhancement out of nine onshore fields in the Țicleni area by at least 50% in the next five years.
Read the full text
On September 6, 2010, OMV Petrom announced the sale of the 74.9% stake in Ring Oil (Russia) to its minority partner Mineral and Bio Oil Fuels Limited (MBO).
From October 1, 2010, OMV Petrom has completed the consolidation of marketing activities in Romania in a single entity, OMV Petrom Marketing SRL.
On December 2, 2010, OMV Petrom inaugurated Petrom City, the headquarters that hosts the company's central operations. Situated in the northern part of Bucharest, it will be used by around 2,500 employees from 7 headquarters of the company in Bucharest and Ploiești. The employee relocation process started in the fourth quarter of 2010 and was estimated to be finalized in the first half of 2011.
In 2010, OMV Petrom inaugurated the Hurezani gas delivery system, designed to optimize gas supply to the national transport network. The system included a new compressor station at Bulbuceni, and 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) of new pipe station. There was a new measurement system of the gas delivery point Hurezani, to adapt to changing parameters of the gas flow and pressure. The total investment budgeted amounted to about 135 million euros.
OMV Petrom ceased importing Russian crude oil in April 2022, stating that it would instead buy crude oil for its refinery from other sources even if prices were more expensive. At the time, it was the largest energy company in Romania. Romanian investment fund Fondul Proprietatea sold the entirety of its shares in OMV Petrom in December 2022. The stake equated to roughly 2.9% of OMV Petrom's overall value, at $$159.45 million. OMV Petrom remained primarily owned by OMV in Austria. In early 2023, the company reported that it had revenues of RON 61.3 billion (EUR 12.5 billion) in 2022, which was 2.4 times higher than revenues in 2021. At the time, it was the largest company in Romania.
In February 2023 Christina Verchere remained CEO of OMV Petrom, stating the company was "closer than ever" to beginning construction on its Neptun Deep gas project in the Black Sea, with a final financial decision about the project to be made by OMV in the middle of 2023. First gas extractions were expected for 2027. OMV Petrom had taken over as operator of the project in 2022 from ExxonMobil. Development drilling at the gas field began in March 2025 and in May 2026 construction on a pipeline was started.
With the aim of including OMV Petrom among the companies required to pay significant profits to the Romanian government, in March 2023, it was reported that lawmakers and government members in Romania were working on "amending the solidarity contribution calculation methodology." OMV Petrom had previously declared it was not liable to pay the solidarity contributions, due to existing regulations. For companies that produce and refine crude oil, the 2022 Romanian solidarity law introduced to take surplus profits, gave the obligation to pay RON 350 for each tonne of crude oil processed in 2022 and 2023.
In May 2024, OMV Petrom bought Renovatio Asset Management, a company that operates an electric vehicle charging network in Romania. OMV Petrom acquired photovoltaic projects with an expected capacity of 700 MW from Jantzen Renewables in September 2024. In September 2025, OMV Petrom purchased a 50 % share in a 400 MW capacity photovoltaic project developed by Enery in Bulgaria.
In January 2026, it was announced that OMV Petrom had agreed to sell a 5 per cent participating interest in the Han Asparuh offshore exploration block in the Bulgarian sector of the Black Sea to Bulgarian Energy Holding EAD. The transaction formed part of a government-directed transfer of licence interests and was subject to regulatory approval and amendments to the joint operating agreement.
In May 2024, the private school Genesis College announced that it had entered into a lease for the entire 10-story tower of OMV Petrom’s headquarters.
Representatives of OMV Petrom stated that the office space had become available because of increased remote work, thus the company was seeking the best option to lease the space.
In September 2025, Genesis College officially reopened the renovated building, relocating its primary, middle, and high school departments, along with an updated logo on the building.
From Wikipedia’s article on Petrom, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5