Energistyrelsen godkender Harbour Energys opkøb af Wintershall Deas danske forretning

Four licenses in the Danish part of the North Sea are now changing hands. Thus, the Danish Energy Agency has approved a transaction between Harbor Energy and Wintershall Dea International whereby the former takes ownership shares in two hydrocarbon permits and two CO₂ permits issued by the Danish state to Wintershall Dea. The agency states this in a press release.

The sale of the Danish licenses is part of a larger international deal, which was concluded last December and includes three Wintershall companies (excluding Wintershall's Russian engagements) being transferred to Harbour's ownership. BASF and LetterOne respectively owned 72.7 per cent. and 27.3 per cent of the Wintershall Group. 

Specifically, it concerns permit 4/95 (Nini), 16/98 (Cecilie), C2023/01 (Iris) and C2024/01 (Greenstore). The first two are permits for the exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons, the last two are CO2 permits. The Iris permit relates to the storage of CO₂ in the underground in the North Sea, while the Greenstore permit relates to exploration of CO2 storage on land at Gassum.

Must provide guarantees

Wintershall International's holdings of the four permits in question are 42.857 per cent. of Nini, 43.590 per cent. of Cecilie and 40 per cent. of the CO₂ permits. The Ineos group owns the remaining percentages in the hydrocarbon permits and also 40 per cent. of the CO2 permits, with the Nordsøfonden owning the remaining 20 per cent. INEOS is the operator of the hydrocarbon permits and Iris. Wintershall is the operator of Greenstore.

"Overall, the Danish Energy Agency assesses that Wintershall International, also under Harbour's ownership, has the necessary technical and financial capacity to be able to handle the responsibility as a rights holder, including as an operator in Greenstore," reads the announcement from the Danish Energy Agency.

However, the permit only applies if Harbor provides parent company guarantees for the fulfillment of obligations in the permits, and that the two former owners of Wintershall International – BASF and LetterOne – submit declarations of subsidiary liability for settlement costs in connection with the hydrocarbon permits, the agency informs.

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