08-07-09 Wintershall Holding is pleased to announce a discovery at the Grosbeak prospect in production licence 378 in the Norwegian North Sea.
The well proved both oil and gas and was drilled east of the Astero discovery. The drilling of wildcat well 35/12-2 was the first exploration well in the licence and the first operated well of licence holder Wintershall Norge (former Revus Energy).

Dr Ties Tiessen, Member of the Board of Executive Directors at Wintershall Holding commented: "The Grosbeak discovery could give us a head start in developing the company into becoming one of the most important new operators on the Norwegian continental shelf and add a further piece of growth potential to our portfolio. Through the acquisition of Revus Energy late 2008, Wintershall now has 55 licences and is one of the largest acreage holders in the country."
Harald Vabo, General Manager of Wintershall Norge stated: "We are delighted to be successful with our first operated well in Norway. We consider this to have the potential of being a significant discovery in itself at the same time as it increases the probability of further resources in the area. Our team will now be fully focused on interpreting the results and evaluate the way forward including the need for further technical studies and appraisal drilling."

Well 35/12-2 was drilled in a water depth of 360 metres by the Songa Delta drilling rig. The well reached a vertical depth of 2,512 metres below the sea surface and was terminated in the Rannoch Formation in the Middle Jurassic. The well will be permanently plugged and abandoned.
The objective of the well was to prove hydrocarbons in the Viking group in Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks and Brent group in Middle Jurassic reservoir rocks. Well 35/12-2 proved hydrocarbons in Upper Jurassic and Middle Jurassic reservoirs. Extensive data acquisition and sampling has been carried out in both reservoirs.

Wintershall Norge was awarded licence 378 in the APA 2005 and has a significant acreage position in the area. The company has mapped several exploration prospects and has access to rig capacity for follow up drilling already next year.
The gross size of the combined discovery is between 6 and 30 mm cm of recoverable oil equivalents.

About PL 378 and the Grosbeak prospect
Production Licence 378 covers block 35/12 and is located north-east of the Troll field with the location of the Grosbeak discovery directly west of the Sognefjord, 55 km from the coast of Norway. The licence was awarded in the APA 2005 and the current partners are:
-- Wintershall Norge -- 40.00 %
-- Norwegian Energy Company -- 20.00 %
-- Premier Oil Norge -- 20.00 %
-- Spring Energy Norway -- 20.00 %

Wintershall based in Kassel, Germany, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF in Ludwigshafen. The company has been active in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas for over 75 years.
Wintershall deliberately focuses on selected core regions, where the company has built up a high level of regional and technological expertise. These are Europe, North Africa, South America, as well as Russia and the Caspian Sea region. The company is now Germany's largest producer of crude oil and natural gas and with its subsidiary WINGAS, it is also an important gas supplier on the German and European market.
Web site: http:// www.wintershall.com