Wintershall Dea in Norway asset sales

Wintershall Dea has agreed deals to sell off its stakes in the Nyhamna gas terminal and Polarled pipeline in Norway as part of a post-merger portfolio restructuring by the German company.

Its stake of 5.0304% in Nyhamna is being sold to CapeOmega while Solveig Gas is acquiring the company’s 13.255% interest in the Polarled gas pipeline that connects Equinor’s Aasta Hansteen field to the Shell-operated processing terminal.

No values were though disclosed for the transactions, which are due for completion by year-end, subject to approval from the authorities.

Wintershall Dea said the disposal of the infrastructure assets was part of “part of a broader programme aimed at optimising [its] global portfolio” after the completion of the merger between Wintershall and Dea in May this year.

“The transaction will allow us to streamline our business activities in Norway and focus our efforts on higher priority assets in our portfolio,” chief executive Mario Mehren said in a statement on Tuesday.

The company is hiving off the midstream assets in order to focus on upstream activities and growth opportunities off Norway, according to country managing director Alv Solheim, who underlined the country “will continue to play an important role in Wintershall Dea’s international portfolio”.

Wintershall Dea, which holds stakes in over 100 licences off Norway, operates the Brage, Vega and Maria fields - though has experienced reservoir challenges with the latter field - and is also a partner in the Aasta Hansteen and Gjoa fields.

In addition, it is developing the operated Dvalin and Nova fields off the country, while also participating in Equinor’s Njord Future and Snorre Expansion projects, and development of the Aker BP-operated Aerfugl field.

The asset sales will boost CapeOmega’s holdings in Norwegian gas infrastructure after the company was sold off by Stavanger-based private equity fund HitecVision, while giving Solveig Gas a stake in Polarled after it sold its entire holding in state infrastructure agency Gassled to the same fund earlier this year.