Germany’s largest crude oil and natural gas producer Wintershall plans to achieve growth in the UAE and knows how to thrive in a low-price environment, according to a top executive from the company.
In July 2015, Wintershall successfully completed the first onshore drilling of the Shuwaihat sour gas and condensate field in Abu Dhabi along with its partner Adnoc and the Austrian firm OMV. After compiling and analysing the data from the onshore field SH-5, Wintershall spudded the first offshore well SH-6.
Also, last year Wintershall inked an agreement with Abu Dhabi Ports for the construction of a facility at Mugharraq Port to cater to the Shuwaihat field.
Wintershall Middle East general manager Uwe Salge said the company has the right strategies to grow in the region. “We want to build a strategic core region for Wintershall and this has many elements. Firstly, we have to focus on the Shuwaihat sour gas project where we are drilling the second well offshore. Through this project, we have deepened our operational partnership with Adnoc. Secondly, we want to expand and team up with other companies,” Salge said on the sidelines of an oil industry conference.
Wintershall now plans to engage in oil. “What makes us an attractive partner is that we have a unique constellation. We are an oil and gas company, a mid-sized one, very efficient and lean and owned 100% by BASF [German chemicals conglomerate and the largest producer in the world]. This unique constellation gives us access to tremendous research capacity on the chemicals side. If you look at the UAE’s strategic target to get more oil from fields, then chemistry is a key to that,” Salge told Khaleej Times.
Wintershall and Adnoc had signed a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2015 focussing on joint chemical enhanced oil recovery research in Abu Dhabi. “Our research capacity is what differentiates us from competition.”
Low oil prices are a challenge but Wintershall knows how to sustain itself in such an environment, he said.
“The most innovative, clever and smart companies will survive and be the new leaders. It’s a paradigm change. We have to get used to be successful and make money in a lower oil price environment. We are prepared and don’t have to lay off people. We are also successful in a high-price environment like Norway. This is what we bring to the table here. We know Adnoc, under the new leadership, is looking at more efficiency and making operations more profitable,” Salge added.
