Wintershall DEA Sets Net Zero Goals
Germany's biggest independent producer Wintershall Dea announced plans for CO2-neutral production by 2030 as it presented third-quarter results November 23.
Production of 606,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe)/ day was 3% higher than last year but oil and gas prices were much reduced so pre-tax earnings (Ebitdax) of €397mn were down from €708mn in Q3 2019; but 56% higher than in the previous quarter. Its cost of production is $3.7/boe. Free cash flow of € 89mn, expected to end the year with slightly positive free cash flow and liquidity increased to around €1.9bn.
The company plans to reduce the intensity of methane emissions to below 0.1% by 2025 and stop the routine flaring of associated gas by 2030. It says that as CO2 storage and hydrogen technology develop, it wants to try to further reduce emissions from the consumption of its products.
It is planning to invest around €400 ($475)mn in energy efficiency, strict emissions management, technology development, portfolio optimisation and nature-based mitigation solutions in the next ten years.
All emissions resulting from the production of natural gas and crude oil (Scope 1), as well as the emissions resulting from energy consumption required for production (Scope 2), will be reduced as much as economically and technically possible. Emissions that cannot be reduced further will be offset through investments in nature-based solutions. “And this applies both to our own operated production facilities and proportionately to the production projects not operated by us in joint ventures worldwide,” said CEO Mario Mehren.
Wintershall Dea aims to achieve net zero operations by 2030 with a four-pillar approach by increasingly focusing on natural gas and crude oil reservoirs that can be produced relatively CO2-efficiently. At the same time, strict emissions management (e.g. increasing energy efficiency) shall be pursued further. With these two measures alone, Wintershall Dea aims to reduce its own CO2 emissions by more than half. This will be complemented by investments in nature-based mitigation solutions and participation in carbon capture and storage projects in the North Sea and investments in hydrogen projects.
It says transparency is the basis for creating trust in its key product, gas, as a low-emission energy source and enabler for the energy transition. Beyond 2030, the intention is to significantly reduce so-called Scope 3 emissions as well, which are mainly generated through the combustion of its gas and oil production.