Page 1 E&P in Brief A Wintershall Fact Sheet Wintershall substantially expands production and reserves in Norway BASF-subsidiary and Statoil swap stakes in the North Sea oil and gas fields Brage, Vega, Gjøa and Edvard Grieg July 2013 Phone +49 561 301-3301 Fax +49 561 301-1321 Press@wintershall.com www.wintershall.com Wintershall increases production volume in Norway more than tenfold Wintershall is expanding its production and reserves of oil and gas in the North Sea substantially as part of an asset swap with Norway s Statoil ASA. With the transfer of shares executed end of July 2013, Wintershall has received shares in the three producing fields Brage (32.7 %), Gjøa (15 %) and Vega (30 %) from Statoil. The fields contain reserves (2P) of around 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). In addition, it is the joint intention of the parties that Wintershall will take over the operatorship of Brage, its first large production platform offshore Norway from autumn 2013, subject to the agreement of the authorities. A respective agreement had been signed by Statoil and Wintershall on 22 October 2012, in Stavanger, Norway. The Brage platform in the North Sea. Wintershall Norge is raising its daily production from around 3,000 boe previously to almost 40,000 boe per day through this transaction. In return, Statoil received a 15 percent share in the development project Edvard Grieg from Wintershall and financial compensation of US$ 1.35 billion. An additional payment of up to 100 million US$ will be paid contingent on the successful future development of the Vega field. As part of the cooperation, the companies are examining the offshore application of the innovative Schizophyllan technology being developed by Wintershall and its parent company BASF to increase production from oil fields (EOR). The partners also agreed to conduct research together into unconventional hydrocarbon deposits in Germany and internationally. Wintershall Holding GmbH Press and Public Relations P.O. Box 10 40 20 34112 Kassel, Germany
Page 2 Through this cooperation with Statoil, we have taken a big step forward in realizing our growth strategy and expanding our activities right at the source. This enabled us to become one of the leading producers in Norway and balance our global portfolio even more effectively, Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Wintershall, said. 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. The 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, Helge Lund, President and CEO of Statoil, said at the closing of the agreement on the asset swap in October 2012. 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 Seele. In particular, this includes progressing development of Wintershall s promising discoveries such as Maria and Skarfjell into production. We want to create added value for example by applying Schizophyllan, and through cooperation with Statoil, the largest Norwegian E&P company, the Wintershall CEO explained. Brage is an established field east of Oseberg in the northern section of the North Sea and has been in production since 1993. Gjøa lies in the northern part of the North Sea. Vega is connected to Gjøa as a subsea tie-back. The Edvard Grieg field in the North Sea is scheduled to go into production in the fourth quarter of 2015. The Norwegian authorities have already approved the development plan. Significant expansion of Norwegian activities Wintershall already operates 25 platforms in the southern North Sea (the Netherlands, UK, Germany). Brage would be our first producing operatorship in Norway and play an important role in our growth story, Bernd Schrimpf, Managing Director of Wintershall Norge, added. Wintershall has positioned itself successfully in Norway as an integrated exploration and production company following the acquisition of Revus Energy in 2008. With over 50 licenses more than half of these as operator the company is already one of the largest license holders in Norway. We also accomplished major successes in exploration, with the discoveries Maria and Skarfjell, for example, Schrimpf explained: Wintershall fo- The North Sea belongs to the traditional core regions of Wintershall.
Page 3 cuses on the entire E&P life cycle. We believe in the potential of the Norwegian Continental Shelf. We want to invest here in the long-term, and we also want to become active in the long-term as an operator. The Maria discovery is considered one of the largest discoveries in Norway in 2010 with an estimated 60 to 120 million barrels of oil as well as two to five billion standard cubic meters (sm3) of recoverable natural gas. An appraisal well in May confirmed the upper end of the discovery estimate. As part of the development plan, the company is currently examining whether to set up its own production installation or a subsea tiein to the fields Kristin, Åsgard and Heidrun. The prospects are just as good for Skarfjell, which was discovered in March 2012 around 17 kilometers south-west of the Gjøa field. Preliminary resource estimates range between 60 and 160 million barrels of recoverable oil. Commercial viability as well as potential additional resources will need to be confirmed by further appraisal drilling. Against this backdrop, Wintershall intends to continue driving forward the exploration of other deposits on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. In January 2013 the Norwegian energy ministry awarded Wintershall Norge interests in three new exploration licenses in the APA 2012 licensing round as well as an exploration license in the 22 nd licensing round. Wintershall is also planning to participate in the APA 2013 licensing round as well as the 23 rd licensing round. Agreement to purchase Norwegian natural gas Wintershall wishes to use the increasing volumes of natural gas produced in the North Sea itself more in the future. To this end, in November 2012 Wintershall signed agreements with Norwegian company Statoil ASA, which govern both the purchase of natural gas produced by Wintershall in Norway by Statoil, and in return the supply of natural gas to Wintershall by Statoil. Statoil will make the North Sea gas available to Wintershall at trading points in Europe, especially Germany. The agreement has a term of ten years and came into effect on 01.01.2013. Wintershall will receive up to 45 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Statoil during the contract period. Rig Songa Delta in the Norwegian North Sea. BASF/Wintershall can use the volumes produced in Norway in Europe thanks to the agreement with Statoil, without having to build its own transport infrastructure. Furthermore, the North Sea gas helps to offset the decline in domestic production in Continental Europe in the medium and long term. Therefore, with its strategy of securing energy right at the source, Wintershall is making a significant contribution to supply security.
Page 4 Research into Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) offshore Through the planned cooperation with Statoil, Wintershall is also playing its part in extending the lifetime of producing reservoirs and increasing the field recovery rate, a strategic goal of Statoil and the Norwegian government, said Martin Bachmann, member of the Board of Executive Directors of Wintershall and responsible for exploration and production. Wintershall has decades of experience in techniques for enhanced oil recovery. Together with its parent company BASF, the world s largest chemical company, Wintershall is currently developing a new, environmentally friendly technology to improve the recovery rate from certain oil reservoirs: the biopolymer Schizophyllan, which is produced by a fungus. The gelatin-like substance thickens the water that is injected into the deposit to enhance oil production. Wintershall is currently testing this innovative technology in an onshore field in northern Germany. We will make use of the insight we gain and further develop its application together, for example offshore in the North Sea, Bachmann said. Furthermore, with its environmental credentials, this organic product can also be used offshore in sensitive eco-systems to raise the recovery rate from crude oil reservoirs. Wintershall engineers work in a team. Overview of the transaction (from Wintershall s perspective) Asset Status Equity acquired Wintershall total equity after deal Operator Brage in production +32.7% 32.7% Statoil (Wintershall 1 ) Gjøa in production +15% 15% GdF Suez Vega in production +30% 30% Statoil Edvard Grieg development -15% 15% Lundin Petroleum 1 The transfer of the operatorship is planned for the end of September 2013 subject to the agreement of the authorities.
Page 5 The field swap from Statoil s perspective (Source: Statoil ASA) These and other images are available for downloading in the Mediathek at www.wintershall.com.