OMV

• ÖBAG (31.5%)
• Mubadala Petroleum and Petrochemicals Holding Company (24.9%)
• Industrial Investors (30.8%)
• Unidentified free float (2.2%)
• Retail positions and miscellaneous (10.1%)
• Employee share programs (0.4%)
• Treasury Shares (0.1%)

The most important shareholdings of OMV Aktiengesellschaft are listed below, with other shareholdings held by the appropriate business segments:[23]

• Borealis AG (75%)
• OMV Petrom SA (51%)
• Sapura OMV (50%)
• ADNOC Refining and ADNOC Global Trading (15%)

Through its 75% ownership in Borealis, OMV has a strong European footprint and is active in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and the United States. Including joint ventures, OMV has production capacities of 7.0 mn t base chemicals, 5.9 mn t polyolefins, and 0.4 mn t compounding. The polyolefin business operates in five industry clusters: Consumer Products, Energy, Healthcare, Infrastructure, and Mobility. The Group is a strong innovator and differentiates itself from the competition through Borealis’ proprietary technology Borstar®, benefiting from a high share of specialty products in its portfolio.[24]

OMV's Fuels & Feedstock business unit produces and sells fuels and feedstock for the chemicals' industry, operates three refineries in Europe and holds a 15% stake in a refinery joint venture in the United Arab Emirates. OMV operates around 1,700 filling stations in eight European countries. The strategic focus in Fuels & Feedstock is on developing and producing more sustainable fuels, greener chemical feedstock, and mobility solutions with lower CO2. OMV intends to become a European pioneer and leader in these areas.[25]

With its Energy segment, OMV Exploration & Production explores, develops, and produces oil and gas in the four core regions of Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, the North Sea and Asia-Pacific, and markets natural gas in eight European countries. Its activities also include low carbon business as well as the entire gas business. In 2022, OMV embarked on the path of its new Strategy 2030 toward a circular business model and was also entrusted with tasks related to securing Austria’s supply in light of market developments. Despite the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on production and supply, OMV made great progress in identifying options for portfolio optimization and developing its Low Carbon.[26]

In June 2010, the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan (ECOS)[27] published the report "Unpaid Debt",[28] that called upon the governments of Sweden, Austria, and Malaysia to look into allegations Lundin Petroleum (as operator), OMV and Petronas may have been complicit in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity whilst operating in Block 5A, South Sudan (then Sudan), during the period of 1997 to 2003. The reported crimes include indiscriminate attacks and intentional targeting of civilians, burning of shelters, pillage, destruction of objects necessary for survival, unlawful killing of civilians, rape of women, abduction of children, torture, and forced displacement by government troops. When the consortium that OMV took part in operated in Block 5A, approximately 12.000 people died and 160.000 were violently displaced by government troops from their land and homes, many forever. Satellite pictures taken between 1994 and 2003 show that the activities coincided with a spectacular drop in agricultural land use in its concession area [29]

In June 2010, the Swedish public prosecutor for international crimes opened a criminal investigation into links between Sweden and the reported crimes. In 2016, Lundin Petroleum's Chairman Ian Lundin and CEO Alex Schneiter (as operator) were informed that they were the suspects of the investigation. Sweden's Government gave the green light for the Public Prosecutor in October 2018 to indict the two top executives[30] On 1 November 2018, the Swedish Prosecution Authority notified Lundin Petroleum AB that the company may be liable to a corporate fine and forfeiture of economic benefits of SEK 3,285 (app. €315 million) for involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity.[31] Consequently, the company itself would also be charged, albeit indirectly, and will be legally represented in court. On 15 November 2018 the suspects were served with the draft charges and the case files.[32] They would be indicted for aiding and abetting international crimes and may face life imprisonment if found guilty.[33] The trial is likely to open early in 2022 and may take two years.

The Swedish war crimes investigation raises the issue of access to remedy and reparation for victims of human rights violations linked with business activities. In May 2016, representatives of communities in Block 5A claimed their right to remedy and reparation and called upon OMV, Lundin Petroleum and Petronas and their shareholders to pay off their debt to them.[34] A conviction in Sweden may provide some level of remedy and reparation for the few victims of human rights violations who will testify in court, but not for the other 200,000 victims who will not be represented in court. The Swedish court cannot impose obligations upon OMV.

On 23 May 2019, the T.M.C. Asser Institute for International Law in The Hague organized the conference 'Towards criminal liability of corporations for human rights violations: The Lundin case in Sweden'.[35]

OMV endorses the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, acknowledging the duty of business enterprises to contribute to effective remedy of adverse impact that it has caused or contributed to.[36] The company has never publicly showed an interest in the adverse impacts of its activities on the communities in its concession area. According to the Dutch peace organisation PAX, the companies OMV, Lundin Petroleum, Petronas, as well as their shareholders are disregarding the human rights standards that they claim to respect, notably the OECD Guidelines and UN Guiding Principles, because they, A. never conducted an appropriate due diligence for their Sudanese operations; B. made no effort to know their human rights impacts; and C. do not show how they address alleged adverse human rights impacts.[37]

OMV (Sudan) Exploration GmbH was a wholly owned subsidiary of OMV AG, and held a 26.1% share in the a license as part of the consortium that appointed Lundin as operator to explore and develop oil deposits in Block 5A. It sold its Sudanese assets in 2004 with a net profit of $55 million[38] As the operator of the consortium, Lundin Petroleum was responsible for day-to-day management but its managers stood under the supervision of the Operating Committee, that exercised "overall direction and control of all matters pertaining to the Joint Operations and the Joint Property". OMV was permanently represented in the Operating Committee and has never publicly distanced itself from any of its decisions.[39]

Between 2001 and 2003, OMV met repeatedly with European human rights advocates led by Sudan Platform Austria, but the company took no effective measures to prevent involvement in human rights violations or undo the adverse impact of Lundin's operations. On April 6, 2001, OMV wrote to Human Rights Watch: "We have reached the conclusion that, despite problems, the influx of oil revenues could improve the social and humanitarian conditions of the Sudanese. Oil exploration activities also represent immediate benefits to the local population, in terms of employment, infrastructure developments and humanitarian assistance... Our role is to constantly monitor the situation on the ground and to turn our perception of business ethics into reality by responsible action.[40] In 2002, OMV nevertheless commissioned an independent report on the human rights situation in Block 5A, that has not been made public.[41]

While Block 5A was operated by Lundin, OMV was a participant in the consortium, the suspicions against the consortium's top managers therefore also concern OMV. The Austrian State's owns 31% of OMV's shares. According to the UN Guiding Principles, which is endorsed by Austria, an abuse of human rights by a business enterprise that is wholly or partially controlled by a State, may entail a violation of that State's own international law obligations.[42]

The acquisition of 51% stake in Petrom was considered controversial as the privatisation contract was not made public and it consists of several disputed clauses.

The privatisation allegedly produced a market monopoly. Critics say that OMV can use the resources Petrom owns until their exhaustion. Also fixing of tax for gas and oil exploration at 3 to 13.5 percent from the final delivery price for 10 years was criticised. Some critics claimed, that the price €1.5 billion was too low.

On 13 December 2022, OMV Petrom was convicted by the Couter of Justice from Gaiesti, Romania of Involuntary manslaughter case. The Local Court Gaiesti ruled its decision in the file where OMV Petrom SA was sent to trial for involuntary manslaughter. The accusation is referring to an incident which occurred in Cobia in 2016 and resulted in the death of a child. OMV Petrom was found guilty and was convicted to a punishment of a criminal fine amounting to RON 28,000. On the civil side, the court assessed the degree of fault of OMV Petrom SA at 50% and the company was obliged to pay moral damages in total amount of EUR 135,000 to the victim's family and material damages and other expenses in total amount of RON 22,000. The court ordered the complementary measure consisting in the one-year suspension of the activity of oil exploitation wells within the radius of Dâmboviţa county which, at the date when the decision becomes final, do not have a completely closed and locked perimeter or which do no have a well cellar grate installed. The court also ordered the publication of the decision of conviction, in extract. .[43]

In June 2007 OMV made an unsolicited bid to take over MOL, which was rejected by the Hungarian company. MOL criticised OMV's advertisement in which OMV had suggested the two had already worked together on the European market. MOL thought that to be misleading and unethical and asked OMV to remove the name MOL from those advertisements. OMV dismissed its bid after negative results of the investigation by the European competition authorities.[44][45] OMV sold its entire stake to Surgutneftegas in March 2009.[46]

On 10 April 2019 OMV announced that it would drill up to ten wells off the Otago, New Zealand coast.[47] The decision was met with indications by local environmental groups, who had successfully fought previous attempts to drill for fossil fuels in the area, that OMV could "expect resistance".[48] In November 2019 an OMV supply vessel in Timaru was occupied for 57 hours by 27 protesters, and 16 people were arrested.[49] In March 2020 two members of Extinction Rebellion Ōtautahi intercepted and boarded an OMV mobile drilling rig in the Marlborough Sounds from an inflatable boat, intending to occupy it for a week, but due to sickness of one of the protestors, the occupation was abandoned after 14 hours. The protestors came on board of the rig and were flown to New Plymouth and served with a trespass notice.[50][51][52]