LNG

Wintershall DEA of Germany would become the leading independent oil and gas producer in Europe when the merger is completed by mid-2019 between Wintershall and Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA), with operations stretching from Argentina’s Shale Basin to Russia, though unusually for an energy company of its size with no presence in the LNG sector.

Wintershall, the German oil and gas major, has purchased a 10 percent stake in the Ghasha natural gas mega-project in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, boosting the future merger between Wintershall and Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA) set for 2019.

German chemicals and energy group BASF and LetterOne, the investment vehicle of Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman and chaired by former BP Chief Executive Lord Browne, signed a definitive transaction agreement to merge their respective German-based oil and gas businesses, BASF’s Wintershall and Fridman’s Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA).

Woodside Petroleum, the operator of two liquefied natural gas plants in Western Australia, has joined nine other global oil and gas majors in signing guiding principles that commit it to further reduce methane emissions from the natural gas assets it owns.

Norway has awarded a record number of 75 licences for natural gas and oil exploration in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea with Norwegian company Statoil having the highest number of awards and one of the other biggest gainers being Germany’s Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA) and Wintershall who will merge soon into a single company.

Gassco, the Norwegian pipeline and natural gas infrastructure company, has taken over as operator of the gas processing plant at Nyhamna on the West Coast of Norway as part of plans to boost pipeline export capacity in competition to LNG shipments in Europe.