Wintershall Ready to Search for German Shale
German supplier and explorer Wintershall Holding has said that shale gas and other unconventional gases could play an important part of its domestic production in the near future.
In a statement heralding its growth in the oil and has sectors today, the company said that the need for domestic sourcing of gas could play a role in Wintershall's German activities once government legislation on shale had been enacted.
"We will need domestic natural gas in future too," Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, Rainer Seele, said. "Hence, we should examine very closely what potential is on offer to us in Germany in future – whether conventional or unconventional."
Wintershall is involved at present with two shale licenses in North Rhine-Westphalia. Both are currently being scientifically evaluated to establish whether shale can be extracted in an environmentally-sound and economically-viable manner.
"We are ready to begin the research," Mr. Seele continued. "But for that we need a reliable framework. We are in favor of amending mining law if the objective is to allow E&P activities in Germany long-term."
Currently, 13 per cent of German gas supply is domestically produced but this could rise if shale can be safely extracted. Germany is estimated to have at least 100 years' supply available within its borders solely from with unconventional resources such as shale gas, even by conservative estimates. The company is also currently researching the possibility of shale exploration in the unconventional-rich Neuquén Basin in Argentina.
Wintershall announced its plans for shale exploration on the back of a very positive financial and production result for 2012. The company passed the €1 billion income mark for the second time in its history, Wintershall said, with net income after taxes and minority interests increasing by almost 13 percent to €1.2 billion from €1.1 billion.