Wintershall to exit Qatar, citing lack of infrastructure access

May 20, 2015
Wintershall Holding GMBH is leaving Qatar, effective May 25, because of lack of access to local infrastructure, the company said.

Wintershall Holding GMBH is leaving Qatar, effective May 25, because of lack of access to local infrastructure, the company said.

A 2013 offshore gas discovery, Al Radeef, is on Block 4 North near North Field.

“During the development planning, it was always clear to us and our partners that an economic development of the discovery, including the processing of the gas, would only be possible if we have access to local infrastructure,” said Wintershall’s Martin Bachmann, responsible for exploration and production in Europe and the Middle East. “This access was not granted.”

The company said further activities in the Middle East are not affected.

“The challenges in the region are increasing with local energy consumption growing rapidly,” Bachmann said. “In order to maintain production in the long term, fields must be exploited more efficiently and technically more complex fields need to be developed.”