BERLIN, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Austrian oil and gas group OMV plans to speed up restructuring and announce a new, sustainability-focused strategy early next year, new Chief Executive Alfred Stern told journalists.

"There is no way around optimising towards sustainability," Stern said, adding that the group was committed to the Paris climate goals.

The chief executive, who took the helmet from Rainer Seele on Sept. 1, kept it open whether OMV would withdraw from its profitable business with fossil energies and whether it would invest in renewables.

"We will make our strategy based on where we can differentiate ourselves, where we believe we can beat the competition."

(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich, writing by Kirsti Knolle; editing by Riham Alkousaa)