Wintershall Increases Norwegian Exposure

Germany’s Wintershall has stepped up its activities in Norway, with the announcement Friday that it has acquired a package of assets from Statoil for US $1.25 billion.

The oil and subsidiary of chemicals giant BASF will buy stakes in the two producing fields Gjøa (5%) and Vega (24.5%), the development project Aasta Hansteen (24%), the Asterix discovery (19%), the Polarled pipeline project (13.2%), as well as equity in four exploration licenses in the vicinity of Aasta Hansteen.

We believe in the potential of the Norwegian continental shelf and clearly focus on our goal: We want to become one of the leading oil and gas companies in Norway. With domestic production in Europe we are strengthening the European supply security,” said Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Wintershall.

Wintershall has sought to diversify from its Russian oil and gas activities, which accounted for more than half of its oil and gas production last year.

The company has been a proponent of re-focusing on development European resources.  Speaking at recent international exhibition Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) in Stavanger, Martin Bachmann, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of Wintershall responsible for Exploration and Production, commented that’s supply security in Europe has traditionally always begun on the continent’s own doorstep.

A recent public opinion survey conducted in Germany by the research institute forsa on behalf of Wintershall showed that 78 percent of Germans would favor Norway as a reliable partner to make up for declining natural gas production in the European Union. 62 percent named Canada, followed by the USA (45 percent) and Russia and the Middle East (with 38 percent each).