Media statement Monday 31 July 2006
For immediate release

Major Contracts for Maari Oil Field Development awarded

• Wellhead Platform Contract awarded to Clough Limited, Perth
• FPSO contract awarded to Tanker Pacific Offshore Terminal, Singapore
• Start of production on track for early 2008

OMV, Central Europe’s leading oil and gas group, today announced that the Maari joint venture, in which its wholly owned subsidiary OMV New Zealand Ltd holds a 69 per cent interest, has awarded the main contracts for the development of the Maari oil field.

The contract for the provision of the wellhead platform was signed with Clough Limited (Perth, Western Australia) and the contracts for the provision and operation of the Floating Production, Storage and Off-loading (FPSO) vessel were awarded to Tanker Pacific Offshore Terminal (Singapore).

OMV New Zealand, as the operator, together with its partners Todd Maari Ltd (16%), Horizon Oil International Ltd (10%) and Cue Taranaki Pty Ltd (5%) expect first oil in early 2008, with an initial daily production rate of 35,000 bbl.

Helmut Langanger, OMV Executive Board member responsible for Exploration and Production stated:

“Securing these high value contracts with competent contractors in a very competitive environment is a major achievement for the development project. Earlier this year the Maari Joint Venture committed to the offshore drilling rig and a number of smaller contracts related to the construction of the development wells. The project is on track for delivering first oil in early 2008, contributing substantially to OMV’s worldwide production. ”

Maari Field Development

The Maari development consists of a self-elevating not-normally manned wellhead platform – engineering, procurement, fabrication and installation awarded to Clough Limited located in Perth, Western Australia – and a Floating Production Storage and Off-loading (FPSO) vessel provided by Tanker Pacific Offshore Terminal (TPOT) of Singapore. TPOT will also operate and maintain these offshore facilities.

Once the wellhead platform is installed, the development wells – five oil production and three water injection wells – will be drilled using the jack-up drilling rig 107 of Ensco Oceanic International Company.

Oil production will commence with the first couple of wells while the remainder of the development wells are being drilled.

Ends

Balanced International E&P portfolio

OMV owns a balanced international E&P portfolio in 18 countries organised around five core regions, namely the Danube and Adriatic, Northern Africa, the North Sea, the Middle East/Caspian and Australia/New Zealand. With the acquisition of 51% of Petrom, Romania’s largest oil company, OMV’s daily production volume is approximately 338,000 boe/d, and the company’s reserves, approximately 1.4 bn boe.

Notes to editors:
The interests in Maari oil field (PEP 38413)
OMV New Zealand Ltd: 69% (Operator)
Todd Maari Ltd: 16%
Horizon Oil International Ltd: 10%
Cue Taranaki Pty Ltd: 5%

OMV in Australia and New Zealand

OMV has been active in Australia and New Zealand since 1999. OMV has offices both in Perth, Australia, and in Wellington, New Zealand.

In New Zealand, OMV has interests in 7 offshore exploration licenses and in 3 offshore Production Mining Permits: Maui, Pohokura, & Maari. OMV’s daily production from Maui is in excess of 5,000 boe/d. The Pohokura project, the biggest non-producing gas field in the country, is planned to commence production in 2006. Maari will then follow with production start-up in 2008.

In Australia, OMV has interests in 8 offshore exploration licenses and in 1 offshore production license with a daily production of about 1,000 bbl.

OMV Aktiengesellschaft

With Group sales of EUR 15.6 billion and a workforce of 5,226 employees in 2005, as well as market capitalisation of approx. EUR 15 billion, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is Austria’s largest listed industrial company. As the leading oil and gas group in Central Europe, OMV is active in Refining and Marketing (R&M) in 13 countries and has set the goal to increase its market share to 20% by 2010. In Exploration and Production (E&P) OMV is active in 18 countries on five continents. In the Gas business segment OMV has storage facilities and a 2,000 km long pipeline system, transporting 45 bcm of natural gas annually to countries such as Germany and Italy. OMV holds stakes in integrated chemical and petrochemical plants – 50% in AMI Agrolinz International GmbH and 35% stake in Borealis A/S, one of the world’s leading producers of polyolefin. Other important holdings are: 51% of Petrom SA, 50% of EconGas GmbH, 45% of the BAYERNOIL refining network and 10% of the Hungarian company MOL.

With the acquisition of a majority stake in the Romanian Petrom, OMV has become the largest oil and gas group in Central Europe, with oil and gas reserves of approx. 1.4 billion boe, daily production of around 338,000 boe and an annual refining capacity of 26.4 million metric tons. OMV now has more than 2,531 filling stations in 13 countries. The market share of the group in the R&M business segment in the Danube Region is now approximately 18%.

OMV further strengthened its leading position in the European growth belt through the acquisition of 34% of Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s leading company in the retail and commercial business.

ENDS