* Middle East crisis disrupts global energy supply chain,

says OMV CEO Stern

* Listing of OMV, ADNOC venture delayed due to chemicals

market conditions

* OMV eyes opportunities in Libya amid country's plans to

boost natural gas production

(Updates with additional information paragraphs 2-8)

By Stephanie Kelly

HOUSTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The U.S.-Israeli war on

Iran has the potential to reduce global energy supplies more

than Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the chief executive

of Austria's OMV said on Monday.

The Ukraine conflict has largely rerouted energy supplies

while the Iran war has taken energy supplies from the global

market, OMV CEO Alfred Stern told Reuters.

The economic effects of the crisis are already being seen in

lower-income countries, he said.

The Iran war, now in its fourth week, and Tehran's attacks

on Gulf neighbors have damaged major energy facilities and

brought shipping through the Strait of Hormuz - which handles

about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows - close

to a halt.

"The Middle East crisis now is really a physical disruption

of the supply chain," Stern said on the sidelines of the

CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. "This is more

significant, but of course, the key variable in there is how

long will it take? If this is of limited time, it will probably

have less impact."

OMV is expected to complete by the end of March a mega-merger

with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to create a global chemicals

giant, Borouge Group International. The deal would combine Abu

Dhabi-listed Borouge and Europe's Borealis, alongside the

acquisition of Nova Chemicals from Abu Dhabi wealth fund

​Mubadala, to form BGI.

OMV and ADNOC agreed earlier this month on a delay to listing

BGI, a decision Stern said was taken because of unfavourable

conditions in the chemicals market and overcapacity in Asia. The

Middle East crisis was not the cause for the delay, Stern said.

Stern said OMV and ADNOC have delayed the listing to 2027,

depending on market conditions.

Stern added OMV is interested in more opportunities in Libya,

which plans to boost natural gas production in the next five

years.

Through OMV, Libya's state-run National Oil Corporation

announced in 2025 a new oil discovery in Sirte Basin.