Wintershall pulls out of Qatar

BASF subsidiary Wintershall is to cease its gas exploration activities in Qatar, the company announced on Wednesday.

The firm said in a statement that development of the offshore Al Radeef gas discovery was not feasible under local conditions, and will be returning Block 4 North near the North Field off the Qatari coast on May 25, 2015. Wintershall cited lack of access to local infrastructure.

“During the development planning, it was always clear to us and our partners that an economic development of the discovery, including the processing of the gas, would only be possible if we have access to local infrastructure. This access was not granted,” company board member Martin Bachmann said.

The Al Radeef gas discovery was made by Wintershall in 2013, and partners in the block are state-owned Qatar Petroleum and Japan’s Mitsui. The company stated that other activities in the Middle East region would not be affected by the withdrawal from Qatar.