Struggling German independent oil and gas company Wintershall reports that it has made a success at the onshore ED-2X ST1 well Egypt, which is roughly 3km away from the Disouq field, where EGAS and Wintershall Dea are operating the DISOUCO joint venture (JV). The first gas announcement comes at a critical time, not only for Wintershall but also for Egypt. The German oil and gas company and its partners began exploring the East Damanhur block in the Nile Delta in 2021 and announced gas discovery earlier this year. Wintershall currently holds a 40% stake, while being the operator. The other joint-venture partners are Egyptian Gas Holding Company (EGAS), INA, which owns a 20% stake, and Cheiron Energy, which owns a 40% share. According to Wintershall, the current production from the well is slated to be ten million standard cubic feet per day.

In a statement made by Wintershall Dea CEO and board member for the MENA region Dawn Summers, the latter reiterated that “bringing this well into production safely and efficiently enables us to deliver additional energy at a time when it is much needed in Egypt.”  Wintershall is currently becoming very active in expanding its overall portfolio, as shown by the fact that it also signed the last weeks a deal with Spain’s Repsol acquiring a 11.25% stake in the license for the Algeria-based North Reggane onshore gas project. The latter project is going to be very large, as the there are already 19 productive wells in the North Reggane field, which produce roughly 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

In a reaction Wintershall stated that the Groupement Reggane Nord will consist of Wintershall Dea (24%) and partners Sonatrach (40%) and Repsol (36%). The current equity stakes area is based onthe completion of the transaction and regulatory approvals, the company is increasing its participating interest in the Reggane Nord natural gas project by 4.5 per cent through the acquisition of interest from former project partner Edison. The Groupement Reggane Nord, operator of the project, will thus consist of Sonatrach (40%), Repsol (36%), and Wintershall Dea (24%). Since production began in Reggane Nord in December 2017, around 13 billion cubic meters of gas have been produced in the consortium. Its business in Algeria is an important part of the company’s portfolio and is to be expanded in the future. To this end, in February 2022 Wintershall Dea and partner Sonatrach extended an existing Memorandum of Understanding to consider new business opportunities in Algeria, not just in natural gas but also in hydrogen and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).