Wintershall Holding GMBH will take delivery in Germany and elsewhere in Northwest Europe of as much as 45 billion cu m of natural gas over 10 years under new agreements with Statoil.
The agreements cover gas produced in the North Sea by both companies, which recently agreed to a major swap of interests in the Norwegian sector (OGJ Online, Oct. 23, 2012). Once the interests have been transferred, Wintershall’s North Sea production will “increase considerably” over the current 1.3 billion cu m/year, the company said.
Rainer Steele, Wintershall chief executive officer, said the agreements will enable his company to “use the volumes we produce from the North Sea in Europe in the future without having to expand our own infrastructure.”