Wintershall continues to make headway on the path to becoming one of the leading operators on the Norwegian continental shelf. The company has now discovered five new oil fields in the North Sea in just one year. "The expansion of our activities in our core region North Sea, especially on the Norwegian continental shelf, is making good progress," Martin Bachmann, Member of the Board of Executive Directors of Wintershall Holding GmbH and responsible for Exploration and Production, explained.

Following the success of Wintershall's own operated wells Grosbeak and Maria (both offshore Norway), Wintershall has now also struck oil with its third operated well, Blakeney, around 150 kilometers east of Aberdeen in the British production license P1619. Wintershall holds a 75% stake in the discovery, the Canadian company Sterling Resources holds a 25% interest. The size of the find is estimated at 60 to 100 million barrels of oil in place.

The Maria discovery, about 200 kilometers off the coast of Trondheim, is estimated to be one of the largest oil discoveries in Norway so far this year. The success of the three Wintershall-operated wells is complemented by two other successful exploration wells in which Wintershall is involved as a partner. Wintershall has a 20% stake in the so-called Catcher field, which was discovered in the British North Sea in June. The very promising area will shortly be assessed with further wells to determine whether additional deposits can be demonstrated. In addition, the well Beta, 15 kilometers northwest of the Snorre field, proved oil in the northern North Sea. Wintershall also has a working interest in exploration well Cladhan in the British North Sea and is planning to sink more wells on the Norwegian continental shelf this year.

Wintershall focuses on the full E+P life cycle in Norway "These excellent new discoveries increase the growth potential of our portfolio in the North Sea considerably and show that we are on the right track," Martin Bachmann said. He explained that Wintershall would continue to invest heavily in the North Sea region and especially Norway.

"In Norway, our investments are focused on the entire E&P life cycle, from exploration to production. This is certainly not a strategy practiced by all international E+P companies in Norway these days. We believe in the potential on the Norwegian continental shelf. Hence, we not only want to invest here for the long-terms; we also want to get actively involved as an operator," Bachmann explained at the international trade fair in Stavanger. Wintershall is spending almost 50 percent of its exploration budget in Norway this year.

"Bernd Schrimpf, the new Managing Director of Wintershall Norge, and his excellent team in Norway are ideally qualified to travel this ambitious path successfully." Bachmann also thanked Harald Vabø for his outstanding and pioneering work.

Tags: Wintershall Norge ASA