Germany A home game
Wintershall Dea’s roots lie in Germany – and even after 125 years, the company still runs its global business from there.
More than a 100 years ago, the company focused on mining potash salt.
Wintershall Dea’s roots lie in Germany. The company has been active there for more than 125 years. It currently produces from three oil fields and 13 gas fields. Production in Germany is challenging and often only possible at considerable extra cost and effort. That is why production there – with its very high safety and environmental standards – enhances the company’s technological expertise. Its two headquarters are also located in Germany: in Kassel and Hamburg.
Where we operate in Germany
Wintershall Dea has focused its activities on the three most important natural gas and crude oil production sites in northern Germany: the Mittelplate crude oil field off the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, natural gas production in a total of four districts in northwestern Lower Saxony, and oil production in Emlichheim near the German-Dutch border in the west of Lower Saxony.
Almost
99%
of the natural gas produced in Germany comes from Lower Saxony.
9,275 m
is how far Dieksand 6, longest German production well, extends into the Mittelplate field.
Around
400
young talents have been trained at the Barnstorf Training Centre since 1976.
Over
40
million tonnes of oil have been produced from the Mittelplate field since 1987.
In Mittelplate, crude oil has been produced since 1987.
Mittelplate - Germany’s largest oil field
The Mittelplate field is located in the Wadden Sea. It is Germany’s largest oil field and also produces more oil than any other in the country. Wintershall Dea is the sole shareholder. An artificial drilling and production island was constructed seven kilometres off Friedrichskoog to enable production, while strict environmental and safety standards were developed. Mittelplate is one of the main pillars of crude oil production in Germany: More than 40 million tonnes of oil have been produced from the field to date.
Emlichheim – A reliable source for 80 years
One of the oldest oil fields in Germany is situated in Emlichheim on the Dutch border. The company has been recovering oil there at a consistently high level for 80 years. That is made possible by steam flooding, where hot steam is injected under pressure into the reservoir. The oil trapped in the rock becomes less viscous and flows more easily to the wells. In 2024, Wintershall Dea started to prepare the shift from steam to hot water injection for an even more efficient oil recovery. Through this project, both energy consumption and CO2 emissions at the site can be reduced by up to 80 per cent from 2025.
Wintershall Dea has been active in Emlichheim for decades and the horsehead pumps have become a familiar sight.
The main operating site of the Gas Nord production facility near Verden (Aller). Six active natural gas production wells and the division’s central office are located on an area covering about 12 football pitches.
GAS PRODUCTION LOWER SAXONY
Lower Saxony is the centre of natural gas production in Germany and one of Wintershall Dea’s focus regions. Bötersen, Hemsbünde and Völkersen, the natural gas fields in this federal state, are among the ten most productive in the country. All natural gas produced here is consumed directly in Lower Saxony.
