Dr Kurt Bock, Chairman, Board of Executive Directors, BASF SE.
LUDWIGSHAFEN, GERMANY: BASF group company, Wintershall is substantially expanding its production and reserves of oil and gas in the North Sea. Through an asset swap, Wintershall will receive from the Norwegian Statoil ASA shares in the three producing fields Brage (32.7 per cent), Gjoa (15 per cent) and Vega (30 per cent), containing reserves (2P) of around 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
Wintershall takes over the operatorship of Brage, its first large production platform offshore Norway. Wintershall Norge will raise its daily production from 3,000 boe to almost 40,000 boe per day next year. In return, Statoil will receive a 15-per cent share in the development project Edvard Grieg from Wintershall and financial compensation of $1.35 billion. An additional payment of up to $100 million will be paid contingent on the successful future development of the Vega field.
“Through co-operation with Statoil, we are taking a big step forward in realizing our growth strategy in Oil & Gas and expanding our activities at the source. This enables Wintershall to become one of the leading producers in Norway and balances its global portfolio effectively,” said Dr Kurt Bock, Chairman, BASF SE.
“With our ambition to become the new operator of Brage, we are making headway in expanding Wintershall-operated production in Norway,” said Rainer Seele, Chairman, Wintershall.
“The Norwegian continental shelf is a world class oil and gas region. Statoil is the largest operator with 48 developed fields and a strong exploration portfolio. We have made four major discoveries on the NCS over the past 19 months, and we continue to increase the oil recovery from mature fields. This transaction frees up resources for Statoil to drive high value growth,” said Helge Lund, President and CEO, Statoil.
In addition, the companies have agreed to co operate in research activities to increase production from oil fields and to examine the offshore application of the innovative technology “Schizophyllan” being developed by Wintershall and BASF. Wintershall and Statoil also agreed to conduct research together into unconventional resources in Germany and internationally. Accordingly Statoil is to receive a 49 per cent share in the Wintershall concessions “Rheinland” and “Ruhr” in Germany.
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