Statoil, Wintershall to swap interests

Oct. 23, 2012
The Norwegian subsidiary of Wintershall Holding GMBH, Kassel, Germany, has agreed to swap Norwegian North Sea interests with Statoil in a deal intended to make it operator of its first large platform development offshore Norway.

The Norwegian subsidiary of Wintershall Holding GMBH, Kassel, Germany, has agreed to swap Norwegian North Sea interests with Statoil in a deal intended to make it operator of its first large platform development offshore Norway.

Wintershall Norge will receive a 32.7% interest in Brage oil field, a 15% interest in Gjoa oil and gas field, and a 30% interest in Vega gas and condensate field tied to the Gjoa facility. It also will receive 30% interests in Production Licenses (PL) 090C and 248-248B.

Statoil will retain interests of 5% in Gjoa, 24% in Vega, 15% in PL090C, and 30% in PL248-248B. It will have no remaining Brage interest.

The Norwegian company will receive from Wintershall a 15% interest in the Edvard Grieg license, for which operator Lundin Norway has received development approval, and net proceeds of $1.45 billion (OGJ Online, Oct. 16, 2012). The payment by Wintershall includes a contingent $100 million related to production from Vega.

After the transaction, Edvard Grieg interests will be Lundin 50%, OMV 20%, and Statoil and Wintershall 15% each.

The companies have agreed that Wintershall, subject to approvals by authorities and partners, will become operator of Brage. The field has been on production since 1993 and currently flows about 14,000 b/d of oil with associated gas and condensate through a fixed drilling, production, and accommodation platform on a steel jacket in 140 m of water.

Statoil’s production from the properties to be divested totaled 39,000 boe/d in the first half of this year.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding to form a strategic partnership that includes cooperative research on enhanced oil recovery, on offshore use of a Wintershall biopolymer oil recovery technology, and on unconventional resources in Germany and elsewhere.

Statoil will receive 49% shares of Wintershall’s Rheinland and Ruhr concessions in Germany.