Statoil and Wintershall Agree on Supply Deal

 Norway's Statoil has agreed a major supply deal with German producer and supplier Wintershall.

The 10-year contract provides for a total of 45 billion cubic metres (bcm). Statoil's president, Helge Lund, said the agreement showed how important natural gas would be long-term in Germany's energy mix. Statoil will make the North Sea gas available to Wintershall at trading points in Europe, mainly Germany, it says. The agreement begins on January 1, 2013.

 Germany, the second biggest gas market in Europe, consumes about 80 bcm natural gas per year.

Natural gas abundance and established infrastructure provides long – term security of supply, and as the least CO2 intensive fossil fuel it can contribute to further reduction of German CO2 emissions,” Mr Lund said in a company statement. “We see this agreement as a confirmation of how important natural gas will be in shaping the long – term German energy system.”

Wintershall itself currently produces around 1.3 billion cubic metres of gas per year in the North Sea, a volume it expects to increase considerably. The agreement with Statoil will enable BASF/Wintershall to use the volumes produced in Norway for Europe without having to develop its own transport infrastructure.

Describing the agreement as a "milestone", Wintershall CEO Rainer Seele said: "For us this means that we can also use the volumes we produce from the North Sea in Europe in the future without having to expand our own infrastructure."

As part of a recent asset swap with Statoil, Wintershall, a subsidiary of chemicals giant BASF, now has shares in additional deposits on the Norwegian continental shelf.

See also: Gazprom and BASF Agree Asset Swap