In a media call today, Wintershall Dea CEO Mario Mehren has described the situation on the energy market as “extremely tense.” Wintershall Dea continues to work intensively to deliver what societies and economies need: affordable and increasingly clean energy supply. Meanwhile the company is strengthening its portfolio and investing in carbon management and hydrogen solutions.
Wintershall Dea’s operational performance remains robust and due to tailwinds from commodity prices, the company’s financial performance stays near the levels achieved in the first quarter of 2022. “This basis will allow us to continue investing at Wintershall Dea – in diversification and decarbonisation – in order to stay on track,” said Mehren.
The Russian government’s war of aggression against the people of Ukraine marks a turning point. “We are facing a serious dilemma,” added Mehren. “As societies, we must confront the aggression with resolve and courage. At the same time, we must continue to safeguard the energy supply for households and businesses.”
Strengthening energy partnership with Norway
Norway has been the second most important exporter of gas to the EU. Wintershall Dea has invested 2.8 billion euros in Norway since the merger in 2019. “We are strategically expanding our activities on the Norwegian shelf,” said Mehren, “We are planning three production launches in Norway this year: with the start-up of the Nova, Dvalin and Njord project.” These projects will eventually secure up to another 80,000 boe of energy, more than half of it is urgently needed gas.
Algeria currently ranks as the third-largest exporter of gas to the EU and it’s also Africa’s largest gas producer. “We are investing in Algeria,” added Mehren. “For example, in the Reggane Nord project. We want to boost our involvement and continue to grow. Therefore, we are planning to increase our share in the project and have signed respective agreements to buy parts of Edison’s stake in the field.”
Mehren addressed the need for more domestic production again in Germany. “We must wisely and responsibly play the trump cards that we have been holding for a long time: By producing as much natural gas – as well as oil – as possible right here in Germany. If we want to reduce our dependence on imports, production within the EU is a must.”
New company strategy: focus on decarbonisation
In addition to diversification of production, the second key strategic issue for Wintershall Dea is carbon management and hydrogen. “This is a new strategy for our company. A strategy that is a logical evolution of what we are, what we can do and what we want,” announced Mehren. “We see huge market potential here. By 2040 up to 20 billion euros per annum for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and up to 40 billion euros for low-carbon hydrogen.”
Wintershall Dea has the necessary natural gas reserves, the technological know-how and depleted reservoirs that can be used to store CO2 – especially in Northern Europe. “We are working on a carbon-management and hydrogen business that will be able to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 to 30 million tonnes a year by 2040.” Studies assume that the volume of CO2 that can be stored under the North Sea alone is 50 times greater than the EU’s total emissions in 2020. “To leverage this potential to protect the climate, some of us will have to leave our ideological comfort zone regarding the issue of CCS,” said Mehren. In civil society and in politics: “Policymakers must create a reliable framework that will enable companies to deepen their involvement with CCS.”
The second important pillar to contributing to decarbonisation is hydrogen. Here, too, Wintershall Dea is doing pioneering work with pilot projects such as BlueHyNow. “We are analysing the feasibility of this blue hydrogen project in Wilhelmshaven, on Germany’s North Sea coast. With BlueHyNow we could potentially already start obtaining eco-friendly hydrogen from natural gas as early as 2028. With a capacity of more than 200,000 cubic metres an hour.”
Please note: Mario Mehren’s full statement and Wintershall Dea’s Q2 2022 results as well as background information on our carbon management and hydrogen strategy are available for download on our Media Video Call website.
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