Wintershall Dea agreed to sell its underground storage facility in Blexen (a district of Nordenham) to Strategic Storage GmbH – a company that is fully owned by the infrastructure investor iCON Infrastructure – retroactively effective 1 January 2019. Wintershall Dea will continue to operate the storage facility for a transitional period to conclude the three-year maintenance programme which began in the summer of 2017.

iCON will continue Wintershall Dea’s successful activity in Blexen. Wintershall Dea has stored crude oil since 1976 and petrol since 2003 in the underground storage facility on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany. The reserves are required by law and are intended to ensure a reliable supply of energy for the public in the event of a crisis. Blexen holds a volume of around 2.2 million cubic meters, making it the fourth-largest storage facility for crude oil and petrol in Germany.

Wintershall Dea aims to focus on exploring for and producing gas and oil as well as the gas transport business.

iCON is a long-term infrastructure investor that holds stakes in the fields of energy and transport infrastructure in Europe and North America. In Lower Saxony, iCON also holds a participating interest in Hanover Airport.

“The underground storage facility in Blexen is one of Germany’s key infrastructure facilities. We are aware of our corporate responsibility and will do all we can to maintain the outstanding relationship with our customer, the German government, as well as with residents, employees and the supervisory authorities,” said Reiner Schränkler, a partner at iCON.

“With iCON, an experienced infrastructure investor in the energy sector is taking over the underground storage facility in Blexen. That’s important when it comes to ensuring supply security in Germany,” stated Dirk Warzecha, Head of Wintershall Dea Deutschland.

About Wintershall Dea

With the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, two successful companies with a long tradition have formed Europe’s leading independent natural gas and oil company: Wintershall Dea. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 13 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Russia, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business.

Wintershall Dea stands for more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company employs around 4,000 people worldwide from over 60 nations. The company plans to increase its average daily production from around 590,000 barrels of oil equivalent to a range of 750,000 to 800,000 barrels in the period between 2021 and 2023. In the medium term, an initial public offering of Wintershall Dea is envisaged.