Wintershall has been awarded interest in seven production licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. Germany’s largest internationally active oil and gas producer will be operator on four of these. As part of the latest licensing round APA 2015 („Awards in Predefined Areas“), the BASF subsidiary was awarded one operated license in the Barents Sea, three licenses (two operated) in The Norwegian Sea and three (one operated) in the North Sea. After the award, Wintershall will hold more than 60 licenses in Norway, operating over half. The Ministry awarded a total of 56 licenses to 36 companies in the APA 2015 licensing round.

Ministry shows confidence in Wintershall’s expertise

“Wintershall follows a long-term goal on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Our discoveries Asha, Maria and Skarfjell represent a basis for this. We appreciate the confidence we have been shown by the Norwegian authorities in yet again awarding us promising licenses” said Bernd Schrimpf, Wintershall Norge Managing Director.

The latest award makes Wintershall the fourth highest holder of production licenses in the country. From the first APA round in 2003, the APA area has been expanded several times and for the APA 2015 comprised a total of 127,608 square kilometers, an increase of 18,403 square kilometers from APA 2014.

About Wintershall

Wintershall Holding GmbH, based in Kassel, Germany, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF in Ludwigshafen. The company has been active in the extraction of natural resources for 120 years, and in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas for over 80 years. Wintershall focuses on selected core regions where the company has built up a high level of regional and technological expertise. These are Europe, Russia, North Africa, South America, and increasingly the Middle East region. The company wants to expand its business further with exploration and production, selected partnerships, innovation and technological competence. Wintershall employs some 2,500 staff worldwide from 40 nations and is now Germany’s largest, internationally active crude oil and natural gas producer.