It has signed a 25-year production sharing agreement with state-owned Qatar Petroleum to explore Block 4N, which lies close to the giant North Field and covers 544 square kilometres in water depths of 70 metres.
Wintershall will process existing seismic and acquire more data on the acreage before drilling two exploration wells by 2010.
"Having already received the licence for Block 3 last year, we are now very pleased to be able to expand our exploration activities in this strategic region," said Wintershall's executive chairman Reinier Zwitserloot.
"Block
