OREANDA-NEWS. October 22, 2012.  BASF Group company Wintershall is substantially expanding its production and reserves of oil and gas in the North Sea. Through an asset swap, Wintershall will receive from the Norwegian Statoil ASA shares in the three producing fields Brage (32.7 percent), Gjшa (15 percent) and Vega (30 percent), containing reserves (2P) of around 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). In addition, it is the joint intention of the companies that Wintershall takes over the operatorship of Brage, its first large production platform offshore Norway, subject to the agreement of the authorities and partners. A respective agreement was signed by Statoil and Wintershall today in Stavanger, Norway.

Through the transaction, Wintershall Norge will raise its daily production from currently around 3,000 boe to almost 40,000 boe per day next year. In return, Statoil will receive a 15-percent share in the development project Edvard Grieg from Wintershall and financial compensation of USD 1.35 billion. An additional payment of up to USD 100 million will be paid contingent on the successful future development of the Vega field.

“Through the cooperation with Statoil, we are taking a big step forward in realizing our growth strategy in Oil & Gas and expanding our activities at the source. This enables Wintershall to become one of the leading producers in Norway and balances its global portfolio even more effectively,” said Dr. Kurt Bock, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE.

“With our ambition to become the new operator of Brage, we are making headway in expanding Wintershall-operated production in Norway. We want to be active on the shelf in the long-term, establish ourselves as a partner – and take on responsibility,” explained Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Wintershall. Wintershall has positioned itself successfully in Norway as an integrated exploration and production company following the acquisition of Revus Energy in 2008. With more than 40 licenses, the company is already one of the largest license holders in Norway.

“The Norwegian continental shelf is a world class oil and gas region. Statoil is the largest operator with 48 developed fields and a strong exploration portfolio. We have made four major discoveries on the NCS over the past 19 months, and we continue to increase the oil recovery from mature fields. Today’s transaction frees up resources for Statoil to continue driving high value growth. We are also pleased to enter a strategic partnership with Wintershall to develop new insights and technologies for increased value creation,” said Helge Lund, President and CEO of Statoil.

In addition, the companies have agreed to cooperate in research activities to increase production from oil fields through Enhance Oil Recovery (EOR) and to examine the offshore application of the innovative technology “Schizophyllan” being developed by Wintershall and BASF. Wintershall and Statoil also agreed to conduct research together into unconventional resources in Germany and internationally. Accordingly Statoil is to receive a 49 percent share in the Wintershall concessions “Rheinland” and “Ruhr” in Germany.