OMV Steps Up for RWE Stake in Nabucco
OMV AG has confirmed that it has acquired RWE AG’s stake Nabucco gas pipeline project.
The acquisition of the German utility’s 16.67 percent holding, doubles OMV position in the project to bring Caspian gas to Europe via the Southern Corridor.
RWE confirmed the transaction was effective March 1. No financial or additional details were provided by either party.
In January, the CEO of the company proposing the Nabucco Gas Pipeline said the consortium expected to rebound from the loss of partners to form a joint venture comprising of nine to ten shareholders.
At the time, Reinhard Mitschek looked past the expected departure of RWE, and the the earlier moves by Hungary's MOL, highlighting the agreement with the consortium developing the second phase of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas field to offer a 50% stake if it chooses the pipeline as its European export route.
RWE had effectively disengaged from the Nabucco project over the past months. Hampered by the German government decision to exit nuclear power by 2022, the German utility has undertaken a disposal plan aimed at raising as much as 7 billion Euros by the end of 2013. It recently agreed to sell its Czech natural gas pipeline division in a deal worth about €1.2 billion.
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