Austrian oil and gas company OMV has announced a significant natural gas discovery, which marks the largest find of its kind in Austria over the past 40 years. The exploration well, named Wittau Tief-2a, took five months of operations to reach a final depth of 5,000 meters.

“The positive result of our exploration is exciting news for OMV and its customers. As we continue to work on our strategy to diversify our supply sources of natural gas, this new find marks a major contribution to the natural gas supply of our customers especially in Austria, with an expected increase of our local production,” stated Alfred Stern, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV AG.

The new discovery is expected to have considerable recoverable resources, estimated at approximately 48 TWh (28 million barrels of oil equivalent). With the full development of this new find, OMV anticipates that Austria’s natural gas production will surge by 50%.

As a subsequent step, OMV is now evaluating different options to further appraise the field. It is also considering a fast-track development in conjunction with the OMV-operated natural gas facility in Aderklaa, which is located a mere 10 km from the new discovery. This significant find is set to make a substantial contribution to the security of Austria’s energy supply and drive a significant upsurge in the country’s local production.

  Aderklaa, Alfred Stern, Austria, Oil and gas news, OMV