Wintershall Dea has entered into an agreement with RDG GmbH & Co. KG (“RDG”) to sell its operated participating interests in certain oil concessions mainly located in Southern Germany. The concessions include Aitingen (Wintershall Dea’s interest: 33.33%), Schwabmuenchen (100%), Lauben/Bedernau (50%) and Hebertshausen (100%), all located in Bavaria, as well as the Landau concession (66.67%) in Rhineland-Palatinate, the Tannheim/Engelsberg concession (50%) in Baden-Württemberg, and the Suderbruch concession (100%) in Lower Saxony. The licences contribute about 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to Wintershall Dea’s production, approximately two per cent of Wintershall Dea's daily production in Germany.
“As part of our broader portfolio optimisation initiatives, this transaction is an important step in the direction of refocusing our efforts in Germany around three main operated production hubs”, said Dirk Warzecha, Head of Wintershall Dea Germany. These core assets include oil production at Mittelplate, Schleswig-Holstein, and gas production in the Verden district and oil production at Emlichheim, both in Lower Saxony. Domestic production will therefore remain a key component in Wintershall Dea’s overall portfolio and a material contributor to the company’s goals.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with RDG and are convinced that they will continue Wintershall Dea’s many years of successful work”, stated Warzecha. Upon closing of the transaction, it is planned that all Wintershall Dea employees in Southern Germany will be transferred to RDG.
RDG, headquartered in Hanover, emerged as an independent company in 2018 from the German subsidiary of RAG Austria AG, an oil and gas company steeped in tradition, and already acts as operator in concessions in Lower Saxony and Bavaria. “As a growing company, we specialise in the further development and optimisation of production at existing oil and gas fields”, says Felix Lerch, Chief Executive Officer of RDG. “Our goal is to align existing development sites towards sustainable, environmentally friendly production, including potential subsequent usage with renewable energies and full ecological restoration.”
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close within the first half-year 2020.
