Wintershall NEWS

Germany’s energy major, Wintershall Holding has been awarded 10% stakes in the Ghasha ultra-sour gas mega project by UAE. The energy giant, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) informed about this deal on Monday. The foundation of this deal is ADNOC’s new integrated gas strategy which has been focused upon unlocking and maximizing value from Abu Dhabi’s gas reserves. Abu Dhabi wants to be gas self-sufficient in the coming future.

BASF-owned Wintershall has received green light to go ahead with drilling operations at the Marisko Prospect in the Norwegian Sea. Wintershall will deploy Transocean Spitsbergen rig for carrying out the drilling process on the prospect. Operations at the prospect are expected to last 61 days. If a discovery is made, operations will continue for 93 days. Repsol, OMV and Equinor are stake holders of Marisko prospect where Wintershall is the operator.

BASF and LetteOne have entered into a definitive transaction agreement to combine Wintershall and DEA and convert it into a joint venture (JV) to be called Wintershall DEA. LetterOne will give all of its shares in DEA to Wintershall, which will then be renamed as Wintershall DEA. Subject to approvals, the merger is expected for completion in 2Q2019. The JV will be headquartered in Kassel and Hamburg, Germany.

Petrogas and Wintershall have extended the contract of Maersk Drilling, allowing the two jack-up rigs, Maersk Resolute and Maersk Resolve to continue their operations in the North Sea. Maersk Resolute has got a 56-day extension by Petrogas to continue its operation while Maersk Resolve has been awarded a 21-day extension by Wintershall to complete its work in the North Sea.

The worker’s strike currently underway in Norway has forced oil supermajor, Royal Dutch Shell to halt production operations at its Knarr field in the North Sea. Shell’s spokesperson has confirmed about the shutdown operations, anticipating at least 36 hours before the shutdown comes into full effect. Knarr field produces 3,800 standard cubic meters of oil equivalents, where Shell has partnered with Japan’s Idemitsu, Wintershall, and DEA.

Norwegian-Wintershall has granted a rig contract to Seadrill Norway Operations Ltd for the Nova development. Seadrill will operate the West Mira drilling rig, which is a newly built sixth generation rig designed to operate in all weather conditions. The contract will also cover incentives to reward Seadrill for efficient and safe functioning. Additionally, to fulfill its future rig requirements, Wintershall has entered into a long-term frame agreement with Seadrill.

Wintershall Norge AS has acquired new acreage in the 24th licensing round hosted by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for production licenses in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). Wintershall will own 20% stake in the license PL 964, while Aker BP will be the operator (40%). The licensing round saw the award of 12 licenses to 11 companies.

Wintershall, the German oil major, and its partners have submitted the Plan for Development and Operation (POD) for Nova field in the Norwegian North Sea, to the Norwegian petroleum ministry. This latest development follows the success of Wintershall’s Maria field and acknowledges Wintershall’s expertise in subsea technology. Nova will be developed with smart engineering and environment friendly methods.