VIENNA, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Austrian energy company OMV said Tuesday its second-quarter results were weak but expressed optimism about its operations.
OMV said in a Tuesday report on the second quarter its profit was down 15 percent to $974 million. It said its second quarter results were "burdened by lower sales volumes."
The economic problem in the European Union translates to lower demand for energy resources.
Chief Executive Officer Gerhard Roiss was optimistic despite the poor performance. He said European activity was boosted by drilling off Norway and through upstream agreements with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
He said the mantra for the company was "grow upstream, optimize downstream."
OMV last month said it would take a one-time loss of $73 million for the second quarter because of the write-down of assets related to the Nabucco West natural gas pipeline planned from Azerbaijan. Nabucco West in June lost out to the rival Trans-Adriatic Pipeline as the European conduit for Azeri gas.
OMV in took on a 17 percent interest in the Nabucco West pipeline held by German energy company RWE in April.
