“Once we can work with Libyan partner firms again and all sanctions have been lifted, we can already produce 20,000 barrels per day within a few weeks again,” board member Ties Tiessen said on the sidelines of an energy conference.
“We hope this will be the case this year,” he added.
He also said Libyan pre-crisis output of 100,000 barrels per day would be reached by the second half of 2012, if this scenario plays out.
Tiessen stressed the figures represented technical possibilities. Wintershall would have to obey international arrangements for producers to resume their activities.
He said there was support from the Berlin government to help lift EU sanctions to enable companies to resume operations. Wintershall suspended its production in February.
Tiessen also said that Wintershall was among companies first in line to restart working in Libya, along with companies such as Eni and Repsol because it had been in the country for longer than Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year regime.
Its current contracts dated back to three years before Qaddafi took power.
“Thanks to our local knowledge we will be able early on to make our contribution as one of the first,” he said.
Tiessen ran the Libyan operations for Wintershall directly from Tripoli between 2001 and 2005.
Libyan rebel reconstruction leader Ahmed Jehani said recently that the rebel government will honor all energy contracts granted legally under Qaddafi’s rule and work to restore oil output to pre-war levels within a year.
Tiessen also said that Libya has a short-term domestic oil need of between 300,000 and 400,000 bpd to get back on its feet.
Wintershall which last year had a net profit of 923 million euros ($1.3 billion) and turnover of 10.79 billion euros, aimed to raise both figures in 2011, said Tiessen, reiterating statements made in March.
Libya’s contribution to the net profit had amounted to 70 million euros last year. A relatively low share of the Wintershall profit total, given the size of the involvement, was in the past attributed by Wintershall executives to high taxes levied by the ousted regime.
Tiessen said positive gas trading results in its core markets this year stemmed from the fact that Wintershall secured flexbile gas procurement.
Wintershall’s profits would come in contrast to competitors such as E.ON and RWE who have grappled with losses arising from overpriced long term gas contracts that clashed with customer demands for cheap gas amid a global supply glut.
Wintershall has a close gas partnership with Russia’s Gazprom from whom it takes 50 percent of its gas. The two firms jointly produce from the Siberian Yuzhno Russkoye and Achimgaz fields.
