German oil and gas company Wintershall Dea, thrugh its subsidiary Wintershall Norge, has agreed to divest its stakes in the Nyhamna gas terminal and the Polarled gas pipeline, for an undisclosed price, in a move focus on its upstream business in Norway.

The sale of the two Norwegian midstream assets will be carried out through separate deals.

Alv Solheim – Managing Director of Wintershall Dea in Norway said: “Norway will continue to play an important role in Wintershall Dea’s international portfolio in the coming years and this transaction is in line with our strategy of focusing on our upstream activities and ambition to capture future growth opportunities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.”

In the Nyhamna gas terminal, Wintershall Dea will divest its stake of about 5% to CapeOmega, a Norway-based oil and gas company.

The Nyhamna gas processing terminal, located in Aukra, Møre og Romsdal, originally processed gas from the Ormen Lange field. In late 2018, Nyhamna gas terminal has also been taking in volumes of the gas transported by the Polarled gas pipeline.

Wintershall Dea to divest its stakes in Nyhamna gas terminal and Polarled gas pipeline. Norsk Hydro ASA/Wikipedia.org.

In the Polarled gas pipeline, Solveig Gas Norway has agreed to acquire the 13.2550% stake held by Wintershall Dea. Solveig Gas Norway is a stakeholder in the Gassled midstream joint venture in Norway, which is the operator of multiple land-based gas processing plants and pipelines such as the Polarled gas pipeline.

The 482km long Polarled became the first pipeline on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) to cross the Arctic Circle. Completed about four years ago, the Polarled gas pipeline has been delivering gas to the Nyhamna gas terminal since the Aasta Hansteen field began production.

According to Wintershall Dea, the sale of its stakes in the Nyhamna gas terminal and the Polarled gas pipeline are part of a broader plan of optimizing its global portfolio following the completion of the merger of its constituent companies Wintershall and DEA in May 2019.

Mario Mehren – CEO of Wintershall Dea said: “The sale of these two assets is an important step in the direction of capturing value from active portfolio management. The transaction will allow us to streamline our business activities in Norway and focus our efforts on higher priority assets in our portfolio.”

Subject to receiving approvals from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, Wintershall Dea expects to wrap up the deals by the year-end.

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