German oil and gas company Wintershall has announced that Revus Energy, recently acquired by Wintershall, and the subsidiary responsible for the Norwegian operations, Wintershall Norge, each received three additional licenses for exploration areas in the Norwegian North Sea.
According to Wintershall, it will be the operator in five of the six licenses. The company has already planned to start with seismic activities on the new acreage in the next few months. The company claimed that it is now one of the largest licence holders on the Norwegian continental shelf and operates a total of 21 licences.
Harald Vabo, former CEO of Revus Energy and now general manager of Wintershall Norge, said that the company would start work on the six new areas very soon.
The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy issued 34 production licences to 40 companies as part of the 2008 licencing round. A large proportion of the licences granted apply to the Norwegian section of the North Sea (21). Another eleven licences were issued for the Norwegian Sea and two for the Barents Sea off the coast of Northern Norway. Overall 47 companies took part in the bidding process, which is now complete.
Wintershall, based in Kassel, Germany, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF in Ludwigshafen. The company has been active in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas for over 75 years. Wintershall focuses on core regions, where the company has built up a high level of regional and technological expertise.