Wintershall Begins Gas Production in North Sea

Germany's largest producer of crude oil and gas, Wintershall, has announced that it has begun gas production in the North Sea, off the British coast. The company launched the Wingate platform on Sunday of last week on the offshore concession 44/24b.

The company expects the platform to produce 1.5 million cubic metres of natural gas initially, with a second planned production well expected to increase that figure to 3 million cubic metres by next year, at the earliest. Wintershall estimates that the total gas production could supply up to 400,000 households once the second well is completed and operational.

The gas that is produced will be transported from the North Sea through a pipeline in the Dutch North Sea, the GDF SUEZ platform D15-A. It will then travel around 300 kilometres to just outside the Dutch village of Uithuizen. 

Martin Bachmann, a Member of the Board of Executive Directors of Wintershall said that the company sees the potential for good revenue from the North Sea. 

"Our most recent investments of more than 50 million euros in the Wingate project once again demonstrate that we still see considerable potential in the North Sea," he said. 

Wintershall received the concession block Wingate is operating on in 2004, and discovered natural gas there in 2008.