A consortium including Aker ASA (OB:AKER)  has made an unsolicited offer to buy most of exploration and production business of OMV Aktiengesellschaft (WBAG:OMV), according to newspaper report on October 18, 2022 which an industry source confirmed to Reuters. The consortium, which comprises Aker ASA, the parent company Aker BP ASA (OB:AKRBP) as well as Trafigura Limited and Bluewater, has expressed an interest in buying 51% of the E&P division, Austrian newspaper Kurier said. Trafigura declined to comment.

Bluewater did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An industry source confirmed the consortium's expression of interest but identified Aker BP as the member rather than Aker ASA. The newspaper and the source both said, however, that the consortium had said it was able to guarantee Austria's security of supply of gas, a top priority for the Austrian government, which owns 31.5% OMV.

Kurier and the source said it was not clear how the consortium planned to ship that gas to Austria, a land-locked country scrambling to end its heavy reliance on Russian natural gas. Until the war in Ukraine, Austria obtained 80% of its gas from Russia. OMV confirmed that it had received a letter expressing interest in its E&P business.

"Since OMV is in the process of analyzing its portfolio as part of its strategy implementation, we replied that we cannot seriously discuss it at the moment," an OMV spokesperson said. The offer also did not include OMV's Romanian unit Petrom or E&P business in Russia, Kurier reported.