Austrian oil and gas group OMV has seen stable business in the second quarter, CEO Rainer Seele told reporters, after a better-than-expected first quarter pushed its shares to nine-year highs, according to Reuters.

“We have basically seen stable business in April and May. So we expect that OMV’s positive development will continue,” Seele said in comments released on Tuesday.

Seele added with reference to Abu Dhabi, home to OMV’s second-largest shareholder, that OMV was thinking hard about how to balance its exploration and production growth with new refining and marketing business.

OMV this month announced a memorandum of understanding with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) about possible downstream projects, likely in high-margin products.

“It will take a little time before we can reach decision time there… I won’t ask you for much patience and will certainly have one surprise or the other ready for you over the course of this year,” Seele said.