The permits have been granted to OMV New Zealand Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of OMV Aktiengesellschaft in a 50/50 Joint Venture with the Australian energy company, Origin Energy Limited. Origin Energy will be the operator of the permits. Seismic activities are expected to start 2006/2007.

Helmut Langanger, OMV Executive Board member responsible for Exploration and Production stated: “OMV is delighted to be awarded these permits. This is a step forward in strengthening our position in one of our international core areas. Our successful application reflects OMV’s confidence in New Zealand’s potential as a hydrocarbon producing region.”

Exploration activities start 2006
The two permits are located in the Northland Basin, offshore the South West Auckland area (see attached map). These permits will be OMV’s first offshore step outside of its Exploration and Mining Permits in the Taranaki Basin area and involve Joint Venture commitments of approximately NZ$ 15 million in total. OMV expects initial seismic survey acquisition to begin in the 2006/07 season followed by an evaluation and interpretation period of up to 12 months.

Commitment to further invest in New Zealand
Last year OMV was successful in obtaining a Petroleum Mining Permit for the Maari oil field in Taranaki. The addition of these two permits reinforces OMV’s commitment to investment in the New Zealand oil and gas exploration sector.

Balanced International E&P portfolio
OMV owns a balanced international E&P portfolio in 17 countries organized around five core regions, namely the Danube and Adriatic, Northern Africa, the British North Sea, the Middle East/Caspian and Australia/New Zealand. Due to the acquisition of 51% of Petrom, Romania’s largest oil company, OMV’s daily production volume is approximately 340,000 boe/d, and the company’s reserves approximately 1.4 bn boe.

Note to editors
OMV in New Zealand
OMV has an office in Wellington, New Zealand and interests in eight Exploration Permits (offshore/onshore) and in one offshore Production License (Maui) with a daily production in excess of 5,000 boe/d net to OMV. Mining Permits have also been granted for Pohokura, the biggest non developed gasfield in the country, with production planned to commence mid 2006 and the Maari oil field with production expected in 2008.

OMV Aktiengesellschaft
With Group sales of EUR 9.88 billion and a workforce of 6,475 employees in 2004, as well as market capitalization of approx. EUR 17 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 17 countries on five continents. In the Gas business segment OMV has storage facilities and a 2,000 km long pipeline system, transporting 43 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 Petrom, Romania’s biggest oil and gas company in 2004, OMV has become the largest oil and gas group in Central Europe, with oil and gas reserves of over 1.4 billion boe, daily production of around 340,000 boe and an annual refining capacity of 26.4 million metric tons. OMV now has over 2,536 gas stations in 13 countries. The market share of the group in the R&M business segment in the Danube Region is now approximately 18%.