Green light for Wintershall Dea to pass on its oil & gas and CO2 assets in Denmark to Harbor Energy 

The Danish Energy Agency (DEA), responsible for tasks linked to energy production, supply, and consumption, alongside Denmark’s efforts to cut its carbon footprint, has given its blessing for four permits to change hands, leaving the portfolio of Germany’s Wintershall Dea to become part of hydrocarbon and CO2 arsenal belonging to the London-listed Harbour Energy.

Harbor Energy is in the process of wrapping up its business combination with Wintershall Dea, which enables it to take over all of the German player’s E&P business, consisting of its production and development assets and exploration rights in Norway, Argentina, Germany, Mexico, Algeria, Libya (excluding Wintershall AG), Egypt and Denmark (excluding Ravn), as well as its carbon storage licenses. 

According to the Danish Energy Agency, Harbor Energy will now be able to bring ownership interests in two hydrocarbon permits and two CO2 storage permits into its fold as the indirect transfer of these permits has been approved.

As a result, permits 4/95 (Nini), 16/98 (Cecilie), C2023/01 (Iris), and C2024/01 (Greenstore) will now be part of Harbour’s Danish assets. The first two are for hydrocarbon exploration and extraction, while the latter ones are CO2 storage permits. The Iris license covers underground CO2 storage in the North Sea,  the Greenstore permit is for CO2 storage exploration on land at Gassum.

Wintershall’s stake of 42.857% in Nini, 43.590% in Cecilie, and 40% in the CO2 permits have now been assigned to Harbor Energy. Based on the Danish Energy Agency’s data, the INEOS group owns the rest of the interests in the hydrocarbon permits alongside 40% of the CO2 permits, with Nordsøfonden owning the remaining 20%. INEOS operates the hydrocarbon permits and Iris, while the operatorship of Greenstore has been transferred from Wintershall Dea to Harbour Energy.

However, the approval of the change in ownership is conditional on Harbor providing guarantees for permit obligations and the submission of subsidiary liability declarations for settlement costs related to the hydrocarbon permits from the two former owners of Wintershall, BASF, and LetterOne.

Harbor Energy’s upcoming business combination with Wintershall Dea prompted the German player to divest its stake in a major sour gas development off the UAE coast to Thailand’s PTTEP.