OMV Shares Stabilize as Romanian Power Plant Resumes Operations

Investors in Austrian energy group OMV received a welcome operational update heading into the weekend. A significant disruption at a key facility in Romania, a core market for the company, has been resolved, removing a threat to supply security in Eastern Europe.

The focus was on OMV's Romanian subsidiary, OMV Petrom. Its Brazi gas-fired power plant, a facility with 860 MW of capacity, was forced into a complete shutdown earlier in the week. The cause was external: official water restrictions at the Paltinu dam, which compromised the plant's access to cooling water, made continued operation impossible.

Swift intervention by the company has now rectified the situation. The Romanian Ministry of Energy confirmed that the plant returned to the grid on Friday, initially feeding 300 megawatts back into the system with a gradual ramp-up to full capacity underway. This rapid resolution is crucial for OMV, as the Petrom subsidiary is a major contributor to group earnings. The restart prevents prolonged revenue losses from this segment. During the outage, Romania's grid relied temporarily on increased wind and hydropower generation.

Market Response and Technical Context

Despite the positive fundamental news, market sentiment at the week's close remained cautious. OMV shares concluded Friday's session at €47.62, marking a decline of 1.37%. This pullback appears more attributable to broader market conditions than company-specific developments, given the resolved issue in Romania.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Omv?

The longer-term trajectory for the equity remains favorable. Since the start of the year, the stock has recorded a gain of 23.88%. Currently, the share price trades just above its 50-day moving average of €46.95, a level viewed as near-term technical support.

Key Details of the Resolution:
* Facility: Brazi Gas Power Plant
* Capacity: 860 megawatts
* Operator: OMV Petrom subsidiary
* Return to Service: Friday
* Outage Cause: Regulatory water restrictions at Paltinu dam affecting cooling supply
* Strategic Importance: The plant meets approximately 10% of Romania's electricity demand

With the Brazi plant back online, operational uncertainty has been eliminated and supply security is restored. For the trading week ahead, a key focus will be whether this positive development from Romania provides sufficient momentum to stabilize the share price above the support zone near €47.