Wintershall informed it is ceasing its activities in Qatar and is returning Block 4 North near the North Field off the Qatari coast on 25 May.
Wintershall’s office in Doha will be closed, the company informed in a statement.
In 2013, Wintershall made the “Al Radeef” gas discovery off the coast of Qatar, the world’s largest LNG exporter.
“During the development planning, it was always clear to us and our partners that an economic development of the discovery, including the processing of the gas, would only be possible if we have access to local infrastructure. This access was not granted. That is why we have decided to take this step,” explains Wintershall Board Member Martin Bachmann , who is responsible for exploration and production in Europe and the Middle East.
Further activities in the Middle East region are not affected by the withdrawal from Qatar. The current focus of Wintershall is on the United Arab Emirates. “We are also closely following the developments in other countries in the region,” explains Bachmann.
He added that the challenges in the region are increasing with local energy consumption growing rapidly. In order to maintain production in the long term, fields must be exploited more efficiently and technically more complex fields need to be developed.
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