Wintershall Dea invited

In a media roundtable, Wintershall Dea CEO Mario Mehren said: “In Q1 we made solid progress against our two strategic priorities. Diversification, through moderate growth for our E&P business. And decarbonisation, by building up our carbon management and hydrogen business.”

The company reported stable production at 318,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Q1 2023, and EBITDAX of 1.14 billion euros. This was 14 per cent lower than in Q1 2022, reflecting a weaker commodity price environment.

Only yesterday (25 April), Wintershall Dea has announced a significant oil discovery in Mexico in the Kan prospect in the offshore Block 30. Preliminary estimates indicate the Kan discovery may contain 200 to 300 million barrels of oil equivalent in place, an immediate success for the company’s first operated exploration well in the country.

Wintershall Dea reached further milestones in Mexico in the past quarter: The company submitted, with its partners, a development plan for the strategically significant Zama Project. Zama is one of the largest shallow water discoveries in the world in recent decades, and is expected to produce 180,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak. Wintershall Dea is the largest shareholder after operator Pemex. 

In addition, Wintershall Dea completed the acquisition of a 37 per cent stake in the producing Hokchi Block offshore Mexico in Q1. 

“These are important developments: for the projects, for Wintershall Dea, and for Mexico and the country’s energy supply”, said Mario Mehren. 

In addition, two partner operated fields in Norway, Hyme and Bauge, came into production as tie-ins to the Njord field. This is a major step since the entire Njord area will act as an important oil and gas production hub for another two decades.

Joining Mehren at the roundtable, Chief Technology Officer Hugo Dijkgraaf said that first CO₂ storage at the Greensand CCS project in March was Wintershall Dea’s “biggest milestone to date” for carbon capture and storage (CCS). “Mitigating climate change will not be possible without CCS – Greensand marks a leap forward for the development of a Europe-wide CCS infrastructure and therefore for climate protection.”

The project, of which Wintershall Dea is a leading member, transported industrial CO₂ emissions from Belgium to Denmark. The CO₂ was then injected into the offshore Nini-West reservoir for safe storage. Dijkgraaf said “Greensand is the most mature CCS project in the EU, with planned capacity to store up to 8 million tonnes of CO₂ each year.” 

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had described the first storage as “a big moment for Europe’s green transition.” 

Greensand is part of Wintershall Dea’s plans to develop a series of interconnected carbon management and hydrogen projects in the North Sea, said Dijkgraaf. In the first quarter Wintershall Dea also secured its second CO₂ storage licence ‘Havstjerne’ in Norway with an annual storage potential of up to 7 million tonnes of CO₂. The company is evolving, Dijkgraaf said, “becoming a leading independent gas and carbon management company."

A recording of the Media Roundtable will be available on the website from tomorrow.