DEA Deutsche Erdoel has completed sale of three operating underground natural gas storage facilities in southern Bavaria, Germany to Slovak NAFTA, an EPH Group company.
Image: DEA sells three natural gas storage facilities in Bavaria to NAFTA. Photo: courtesy of DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG.
The three underground natural gas storage facilities acquired by NAFTA are the Inzenham – West, Wolfersberg and Breitbrunn/Eggstätt facilities.
The Wolfersberg gas storage facility is the oldest of the three having started operations in 1973. The Inzenham-West, located near Rosenheim, began operations in 1982 while the Breitbrunn/Eggstätt storage facility at the lake Chiemsee, has been operating since 1996.
NAFTA entered into the deal to acquire the three Bavarian underground natural gas storage facilities in March 2018. The transaction was closed following receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals.
As part of the deal, NAFTA also acquired 19.7% stake of Storengy Deutschland in the Breitbrunn/Eggstätt storage facility to take full ownership.
Through the acquisition, the company will increase its existing storage capacity of nearly 2.7 billion m³ by an additional 1.8 billion m³.
NAFTA CEO Martin Bartošovič said: “For a long time we have been giving attention to development projects that would let us effectively utilize our extensive skills and know-how obtained from our many years of experience.
“It is our great pleasure to have achieved such a significant milestone in international cooperation through precise activities. The acquisition of underground storage facilities in Bavaria is seen as an important strategic investment and a successful step toward expanding our underground gas storage activities into Germany’s market.”
For DEA, the sale of the underground natural gas storage facilities in Bavaria is part of its strategy to focus on exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. Under this strategy, the German company separated its gas storage business in 2017.
It also handed over its storage activities pooled in its subsidiary DEA Speicher to NAFTA. A marketing unit operating under the name DEA Speicher GmbH was also transferred to NAFTA which in the future will commercialize existing storage capacity.
DEA German/Danish operations head Uwe Balasus-Lange said: “With NAFTA as new owner, natural gas will continue to be speedily available from the storage facilities in line with consumer demand.
“The storage facilities in southern Bavaria are a key mainstay for a secure energy supply in Bavaria and will continue to fulfill this function in future, too.”