Austria's OMV has blamed the continuing crisis in Libya for a halving of underlying operating profit in the second quarter.
The company was forced to compensate for the vastly reduced output from Libya with increased production from newly acquired fields in the Norwegian North Sea, where oil more expensive to extract.
Reuters reports that OMV restarted production in Libya and was producing an average of 12,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) so far this quarter - a little more than a third of the level three years ago.
Chief Executive Gerhard Roiss (pictured) said he could not predict whether the improvement in Libya was sustainable, telling a news conference: "The answer is: Insha'Allah (God willing)."
Chief Financial Officer David Davies commented:
"Measured by EBIT, the barrels from Libya are the most profitable barrels that we produce ...
"The difference between zero contribution from Libya and 100 percent contribution from Libya based on an oil price of $105 is nearly 950 million euros."
adding that the impact on net profit was 200-250 million euros because of Libyan taxes.
(Sources: Reuters, OMV)
