Page 15 - FSUOGM Week 03 2023

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM

Germany's Wintershall Dea departs Russia

RUSSIA GERMANY’S Wintershall Dea has and Achim Development.
announced it will exit Russia, noting that con- The company’s exit will mean it booked a one-
Wintershall Dea says tinued operations in the country had become off non-cash charge of €5.3bn ($5.8bn) in the
working in Russia is no impossible. fourth quarter of 2022. This write-off includes
longer possible. Owned by German chemicals giant BASF other Russian-related impairments, including
and Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Let- the one relating to its interest in the now-inoper-
terOne business, Wintershall Dea has become able Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
the latest international oil company to decide to In spite of the setback, Wintershall Dea said
leave Russia amid fallout from Moscow’s inva- it was still financially flexible. Thanks to soaring
sion of Ukraine. high gas prices, the company saw its EBITDAX
“Wintershall Dea will end its Russian activi- climb 162% year on year in the third quarter of
ties. Continuing to operate in Russia is not ten- last year, to €2.6bn, while its adjusted net income
able,” CEO Mario Mehren said in a statement rose 264% to €851mn. It also had €6.2bn of cash
on January 18. “Russia’s war of aggression in and cash equivalents at the end of three-month
Ukraine is incompatible with our values and period, although excluding its Russian business,
has destroyed cooperation between Russia and this came to only €4.2bn.
Europe.” “Having built significant flexibility during the
He went on to explain that Russian restric- year 2022, the company will take actions in line
tions had made it impossible for Wintershall Dea with its financial policy to maintain a strong bal-
to operate its joint ventures in the country as it ance sheet consistent with its investment grade
previously did. He pointed to Russian presiden- rating commitment and in parallel profitably
tial decrees issued in December that forced its grow and diversify its business outside of Russia,”
joint ventures to cut the price of gas they charge Wintershall Dea said.
Gazprom. BASF, which owns 72.7% of Wintershall Dea,
Wintershall Dea’s Russian operation includes will also book a €7.3bn impairment as a result of
a 35% stake in the Gazprom-operated Yuzh- the company’s Russia-related troubles, including
no-Russkoye field in Siberia, and interests in two €5.4bn in the fourth quarter. BASF consequently
of Gazprom’s Achimov layer projects, Achimgaz suffered a €1.38bn net loss for last year. ™

POLICY

Rostec unit builds Russia's first high-

power gas turbine

RUSSIA RUSSIAN state corporation Rostec’s United planned LNG terminals.
Engine Corp (UEC) unit announced on Janu- In a statement, Rostec, said it expected that
Sanctions have ary 18 it had completed the construction of the at least two such turbines would be produced
prevented Russia’s use first Russian-made large-scale gas turbine, with annually from 2024, and even more each year at
of Western turbines. a capacity of 115 MW. a later stage. UEC added that the turbine was not
The landmark comes at a time when Russia inferior to foreign equivalents, but was smaller
is scrambling to replace foreign equipment and in size and a lower weight, making it easier to
technology in its energy sector in the face of transport to customers.
Western sanctions and the withdrawal of many International companies that previously sup-
international contractors and suppliers follow- plied Russia with high-power turbines, including
ing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Western Siemens Energy, General Electric and Alstom,
sanctions explicitly block the supply of turbines have either closed their businesses in the coun-
to Russia. try or are intending to leave. In any case, their
The turbine was developed by power firm production and delivery of equipment has been
Inter RAO, a unit of state tech company Rus- put on hold because of sanctions.
nano, in partnership with UEC and Gas Turbine Another Russian manufacturer Power
Technologies. It will be supplied to the Udarnaya Machines is also building high-power gas tur-
thermal power plant in the Krasnoyarsk region. bines. It plans to build eight 170-MW turbines
Such turbines would also have a use at large- annually by 2025 and increase its production
scale oil and gas projects in Russia, including capacity to 12 later. ™

Week 03 18•January•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P15