By Jan Hromadko DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
KASSEL (Dow Jones) – Wintershall AG, Germany biggest supporter of oil and gas, wants to invest in the next few years to increase to expand production and infrastructure. By 2012, the company will invest more than EUR 4.5 billion, said the CEO of Kassel, BASF subsidiary, Rainer Seele, on Thursday at the annual press conference.
Of the amount more than 3 billion euros for the search and were Planned development of new oil fields, especially in the North Sea and in the Norway, said Seele. Another 1.5 billion will Wintershall therefore in the Expansion of the gas network and storage capacity in conjunction with Russia’s Gazprom Group operated Joint venture Wingas stuck.
The annual production is already on this year 140 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of approximately 136 million boe in increase last year, the company advised. In the short term would increasing the flow of its own gas come, "said the soul. In the medium to long term, however, the company striving even after an increase in oil production. The current Share of about 30% of the total output was not enough, the Manager.
Wintershall is involved in the construction of the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream ". This is from 2011 over a distance of 1200 kilometers of natural gas Russia to supply Europe. The distribution subsidiary Wingas will, however, only after the commissioning of the second line cord into the pipeline gas Entitled to take. "In 2012 or 2013 we will no remove larger quantities of gas from the Nord Stream, "said Seele. The profit Wingas will remain stable until then, "he announced. By additional gas, he will then rise.
This year should be the result of Wintershall after cyclical decline in 2009, stabilize at a high level. " Soul concretized this statement in the press conference by issuing a out the prospect of rising profits. The increase was due to the higher Oil price driven. Wintershall expects an oil price of an average of $ 75 per barrel, after 2009 in the annual average of around 62 USD Located had.
The low price of oil was one reason for the Turnover fell by about one fifth to 11.4 billion EUR, the Wintershall 2009 recorded, although the flow had increased by almost 5%. That Segment earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) broke last year by 40% to 2.3 Billion a. A net result was Wintershall on Thursday is not enough. Ludwigshafen-based BASF SE, the parent company had in its Annual Report for the daughter of a net profit of EUR 729 million indicated that a decrease of nearly one fourth equivalent.
Website: www.wintershall.com - By Jan Hromadko, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 104; unternehmen.de @ dowjones.com DJG / DJN / mmr / sha Visit our website http://www.dowjones.de
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 18, 2010 11:31 ET (15:31 GMT)
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