Wintershall successful in the APA 2017 licencing round
Published by Laura Dean,
Deputy Editor
Oilfield Technology,
Wintershall continues to gain more exploration acreage in Norway. In the Awards for Predefined Areas (APA) 2017 licencing round, Germany’s largest internationally active oil and gas company received shares in six licences by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The company will be operator of three of these. Four of the licenses are in the Norwegian North Sea, one is located in the Norwegian Sea in the extended Aasta Hansteen area, and one is located in the Barents Sea. All licenses are in Wintershall core areas.
“We are grateful to the Norwegian authorities for recognising the strength of our application and our willingness to continue expanding our operations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. With the start-up of Maria at the end of 2017, and the ongoing development of Nova we have shown that we are a strong and reliable performer and turn licenses into producing assets. Gaining good acreage in these licensing rounds is key as we pursue our goal of further organic growth in Norway,” said Hugo Dijkgraaf, Managing Director of Wintershall Norge. After the award round, Wintershall will hold around 50 licenses in Norway, being operator in over 50 percent. The company remains one of the major license holders on the shelf. The Ministry awarded a total of 75 licenses to 34 companies in the APA 2017 licensing round.
Potential for new discoveries.
“This is another strong result for Wintershall. We put together a good application, which backs up our willingness to invest in our core areas. The Vøring basin in the extended area around Aasta Hansteen is important to us. The platform is a hub which can help unlock developments in the whole area and we are committed to support extending plateau on the field. At the same time, we still see the possibility for high impact exploration in the Barents,” said Guy Oakes, Head of Exploration at Wintershall Norge.
The award was announced during an industry seminar in Sandefjord, by the Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Terje Søviknes.
The APA 2017 licensing round comprises blocks in predefined areas in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. It covers an overall surface area of 177 170 square km. In total, 39 companies applied for blocks.
Wintershall licenses in the APA 2017:
North Sea:
- PL 153C Wintershall Norge AS 20%
- PL 777D Wintershall Norge AS 20%
- PL 914S Wintershall Norge AS 6.4615%
- PL 927 Wintershall Norge AS 50% Operator
Norwegian Sea:
- PL 944 Wintershall Norge AS 40% Operator
Barents Sea:
- PL 953 Wintershall Norge AS 40% Operator
Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/special-reports/18012018/wintershall-successful-in-the-apa-2017-licensing-round/
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