HISTORY OF

CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION

IN EMLICHHEIM.

Shaping the future.

02/03

A PIECE OF

INDUSTRIAL HISTORY.
Horse-head pumps, with their rhythmic nodding, are a familiar sight for the inhabitants of the districts of Emsland and Grafschaft Bentheim because the region's
industrial history is closely connected to oil and gas. Wintershall Holding GmbH is
Germany's largest producer of crude oil and natural gas and has been producing
oil in Emlichheim for 65 years. At present this field on the German-Dutch border
has 85 wells in active operation and produces about 140,000 tonnes of crude oil
each year. All in all oil is produced from 14 blocks extending over an area of four
square kilometers.
Wintershall has planned further investments to expand its production of oil in
Germany. In 2008 the company completed four additional wells in Emlichheim.
In 2010 and 2011 production in Emlichheim will have increased by 16 new and
13 deviated wells. This is likely to keep production at a consistently high level
until 2016. Domestic production has traditionally been the basis of operations for
the company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF. At around 2.5 million
tonnes (2010), oil production in Germany covers just three percent of domestic
demand but any production on one's own doorstep enhances supply security.

04/05

THE SEARCH FOR OIL AND

NATURAL GAS IN GRAFSCHAFT

BENTHEIM.
The history of oil production in the district of Grafschaft Bentheim goes back to the middle
of the 19th century. Back then oil shale was already being mined in the Bentheim Forest and
being distilled into crude oil at the oil plant in Salzbergen. Natural asphalt deposits, such as
those at Sieringhoek near Bentheim, also indicated oil deposits. Natural asphalt, or crude
bitumen as it is also known, comes from oil or oil sands as a result of oxidation and the
evaporation of volatile constituents. From experience, geoscientists knew that the chances
of additional strikes were good.
When Professor Hans Hfer, the leading European oil geologist of the time, drew up his
report titled Bentheim an Oil Study in 1903 it was therefore no surprise that he recommended exploration of the Bentheim anticline, whose flanks can be recognized in the
Bentheimer Schlossberg hill to the south and in the Isterberg hill to the north.
Between 1904 and 1908 Ulrich & Co, a Berlin-based bank, commissioned drilling operations
near Bentheim in a search mainly for oil but the wells one of which went down to the considerable depth of 1,233 meters did not deliver the success they were hoping for. It was not until
1925 that Professor Alfred Bentz, head of the Oil department at Preussische Geologische Landesanstalt, reexamined the area south of Bentheim. He pointed out its prospectivity for oil again.
OIL SOUGHT NATURAL GAS FOUND
At the first wells near Ochtrup, where drilling began in 1934, only traces of crude oil were
found. Then the Bentheim anticline was explored again in 1936. A deep well was drilled
near the old 1904 well. The Norddeutschland 1 well took over two years to drill but, in fall
1938, it hit the dolomite of the Zechstein at a depth of 1,557 meters. To their great surprise,
though, the drilling crew did not find oil but encountered a gas eruption that they could not
bring under control for a while. Natural gas flowed through the flares for some time, lighting
up the night. Real production in the Bentheim natural gas field was able to start in 1944
when the necessary infrastructure had been put in place.

EXPLORATION IN THE SHADOW OF WAR

Encouraged by the Bentheim gas strike, the geologists now also turned their attention to the north. They assumed that the anticline continued in this direction underground. As it was adequately covered by more recent deposits, they thought
the Bentheim sandstone ought to be an ideal crude oil reservoir.
Simple surface maps were replaced by geophysical methods that made it
possible to look into the inaccessible subsurface. Gravimeters and seismic
measurements carried out in the course of the Geophysical Survey of the
German Reich indicated promising structures.
The outbreak of World War II led to an intensified search for fossil energy
sources. Licenses were granted and initial exploration wells were drilled on
the highs near Lingen and Nordhorn, starting in 1940 and 1941 respectively.
These uncovered traces of the much sought-after crude oil. Finally oil was
found in the Lingen 2 well near Dalum on February 3, 1942. Development of
the Dalum oil field spread from this well. Further geophysical measurements
were taken on the basis, in particular, of reflection seismics, which is used to
explore the shallow subsurface.
In 1943 the drilling crews also hit oil with initial exploration wells in Georgsdorf
and Emlichheim. In the same year a German-Dutch consortium established
during the war also found oil in the Schoonebeek 2 well on the Dutch side of
the border, which laid the foundation stone for development of the major oil
field at Schoonebeek.

06/07

Together with Emlichheim it forms a geological unit (anticline) stretching about ten kilometers
in an east-west direction. Emlichheim is the smaller part and constitutes the south flank.
At this time Wintershall was the only operator in the Emlichheim field. For the Georgsdorf,
Nordhorn, Esche and Itterbeck concessions, Deutag /C. Deilmann GmbH (later called
Preussag Energie, now Gaz de France, GdF), Preussag, Gewerkschaft Elwerath (later called
BEB, now Exxon-Mobil Produktions GmbH, EMPG) and Wintershall established a consortium in which the companies each held a 25 percent stake.
Toward the end of World War II production of crude oil in the region almost came to a
stop. By the end of March 1945 wells had been drilled as follows:
27 in Dalum, of which 23 were successful
9 in Emlichheim, of which 8 were successful
21 in Georgsdorf, of which 19 were successful
All in all about 34,000 tonnes of crude oil had been produced at this time.
During the war prisoners of war and forced laborers were also deployed in the oil industry.
Via BASF, Wintershall is involved in the compensation fund for former forced laborers.

Bremerhaven

Emmen

Groningen

Emlichheim

Georgsdorf

Bremen

Esche
Itterbeck

The
Netherlands

Nordhorn

Germany
Almelo
Hannover

A NEW START AND NEW STRIKES

By order of the British military administration, production of crude oil resumed
as early as 1945. Additional fields were discovered in the years that followed.
After Dalum, Georgsdorf, Schoonebeek and Emlichheim came Adorf in 1947,
Rhlertwist in 1948 and Rhlermoor and Scheerhorn in 1949. Exploration went
on. There were two more oil strikes in 1957 and 1959, namely in the western
Emlichheim field (near Eschebrgge) and in the southern Emlichheim field
(near Haselaar).
After two gas fields had been found near Nordhorn (Frenswegen and ItterbeckHalle) at the beginning of the 1950s, more and more gas was struck in the northwest of Grafschaft Bentheim up to the end of the 1960s. After the discovery of
gas in Adorf in 1955, more gas fields were discovered in Emlichheim in 1956
and in Kalle in 1957. Gas was also struck in Esche and Wielen in 1959.

08/09

EMLICHHEIM
A PLACE AND ITS OIL.
When a large steel framework, heavy machinery and corrugated-iron sheds were erected
north of Emlichheim in 1943, the local population was surprised initially. They received
the strangers with mistrust but were very curious about the project itself. The drill bit went
into action on May 20, 1943, and gradually made its way into the depths. On November 4
the well was ready and the effort had paid off. The well was free-flowing, enabling production to proceed without extra facilities because the crude oil reached the surface under
its own pressure. The well had hit oil sand 27 meters down. But there were still many
challenges to face, as shown by a letter dated March 27, 1944, from Wintershall's oil
plants, based in Nienhagen at the time, to the Board of Mines in Hanover:

Since the oil is extremely viscous, it is currently impossible to tell which method
should be used to actually produce it. In addition, the terrain is difficult and does not
offer any way of transporting the oil. Pumping through pipes is out of the question
due to the characteristics just mentioned. In the meantime we have begun to repair
the road and to build a field railroad to link up to the train station in Emlichheim.

The implementation of these plans is described in the records drawn up at

the time by one of Wintershall's employees:
At the edge of the village near the train station a marshy, sandy plot of land
will be leased and leveled and a small center with a wooden shack will be
erected on it for site management. As the crude oil needs to be transported
from the wells to the train station, a field railroad of roughly four kilometers in
length will be set up. For this, permanent personnel will be coming from Nienhagen to start laying the railroad and building the road when a camp has been
erected for everybody close to the site's storage location. Finally the first small
rail tank cars will arrive from the field. A treatment facility will be built to pump
the oil into the Bentheim railroad's tank cars.
SETTING OFF INTO A NEW TIME
This employee also wrote down his impressions of the resumption of production after the war, as ordered by the British military administration:
Resuming work is easier said than done. Along the border there will be an exclusion zone that must not be entered. [] Contact with head office in Nienhagen
has been disrupted. Those employees who have remained have decided to resume operations on their own initiative. After the only well outside the exclusion
zone Emlichheim 3 a rail track will be laid and production can then begin.
We were barely ready with this when permission was granted to enter the exclusion zone with identity cards until dusk. The camp is also being put in order.
[] Only one man is living there at the moment and everybody can use it as
they want to. Somebody will be found to help out in the kitchen. We are eating
the remaining stock of foods. We have to drive mice out of the rolled oats and
potato flour. We swap salt with the local farmers for milk and bacon so we can
make do with milk soup and fried potatoes.

10/11

On January 1, 1946, Wintershall established the Emsland oil plants. By order of the British
military administration and the North German Oil Control (NGOC) work pushed ahead on
further exploration and on increasing crude oil production. After all, the region's crude oil
was of strategic importance for the victorious allied powers too. However it turned out to be
difficult to comply with the NGOC's instructions because material was missing, as well as
labor initially. Over time newcomers were deployed in production but they needed accommodation and, above all, food and drink not an easy task in a period of general shortage.
LIVING AND WORKING IN EMLICHHEIM
The community camp that had been erected soon became too small so the workers built
temporary huts. Their families were quartered at the former prisoner-of-war camp in Bathorn,
about 12 kilometers away from Emlichheim. But it remained difficult to obtain food. Everybody tried to get at least some milk and, occasionally, some bacon and potatoes by swapping items or working for the local farmers. One of the workers there described life after
the war like this:
At mealtimes we all stand in line at the kitchen issue point with our metal bowls and spoons
to collect rutabaga or mushroom soup. The food that was available told us which day of
the week it was. There is no peace during the day or night. There is constant coming and
going when shifts change. A few rooms down the block somebody is playing the accordion.
In the room next door the radio is playing. In my room somebody is snoring loud. Opposite,
cards are being banged down on the table. Further away somebody is frying potatoes.
You can hear or smell everything across several rooms. Nothing happens in the village.
There is no Sunday dancing and I can't do sport either because it is frowned upon. I can't
even go to watch a movie because the local authority has rejected a theater following
objections by the churches. This means it is better to stay in the camp despite all the inconveniences here. At least I feel at home here. [] Our office is a green wooden shack.
When you make a phone call, everybody in the shack and the machines must stay quiet
as you can't hear yourself speak otherwise. You just don't try to make a phone call in the
shack itself. You would simply end up shouting the whole time. The stench of self-cultivated
tobacco wafts through the room. Recently I was in a bar. I know why they want oil said
one farmer to another in the local dialect. There's something for women in it. What's
that then? I've heard it's full of perfume. He meant paraffin.

SETTING UP AND EXPANSION OF PRODUCTION

At this time the extent of the Emlichheim reservoir was known and work on developing it further pushed ahead. Several drilling rigs belonging to Haniel & Lueg,
Wintershall and Deutsche Vacuum were now operating in the field at the same
time. Workers set up field lines and built roads. The crude oil was collected at
the head station and transported by the field railroad for treatment at the center.
As transport capacity soon became inadequate and oil in the rail tank cars
kept thickening in winter, Wintershall built an insulated four-kilometer pipeline
above ground from the head station to the center.

12/13

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENTS.
In 1947 a demand by the Dutch for changes to the border caused agitation. This would
have meant the cession of part of the north-west of Grafschaft Bentheim to the Netherlands.
The reason given for this claim was the need for water but the discovered crude oil deposits
were also mentioned in passing. In the end the allies rejected this claim. The Netherlands
finally abandoned this claim in 1952.
In 1948 the currency reform led to a considerable improvement in the economic situation.
Office premises and many residential properties were built in Emlichheim. The red settlement
(now Grasriete/Westerfeld/Danziger Strasse), the white settlement (west of Berliner Strasse/
Rerinkstrasse), Stffers Tannen (east of Berliner Strasse) and Haselaar were all built up,
shacks and huts disappeared and Emlichheim got better roads and street lighting. The
products available in stores came to meet people's increased demands. A new school,
sports grounds and an Evangelical-Lutheran church were built. And the long disputed
movie theater became reality. The neighboring communities of Georgsdorf and Dalum also
evolved thanks to the production of raw materials. Part of the moor was cultivated and
new farmers settled.

14/15

FROM

1950 TILL NOW.

At the center in Emlichheim the ground was broken for the new office building in Wintershallstrasse on May 8, 1951. Topping-out was on September 14, 1951, and the keys were
handed over at a ceremony on May 5, 1952. At the opening Paul Rhle, commercial director
of the Emsland oil plants since October 1949, made the following promise:
Administrative staff will carry out their duties in this building to the best of their ability for
the benefit of both the plant and the workforce.
At the end of 1954 the Emsland and Nienhagen oil plants were merged into joint administrative operations in Barnstorf, Lower Saxony. Alongside Kassel, Barnstorf is now a crucial
site for the activities of Wintershall Holding GmbH in Germany.
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES PRIMARY, SECONDARY AND TERTIARY PRODUCTION
With the deployment of innovative technology Wintershall is applying pressure to crude oil in
Emlichheim and thus extending the production capacity and life of the Emlichheim oil field
near the German-Dutch border.
Emlichheim is well past the stage of primary production, during which the oil more or less
flows into the operations pipelines by itself. Secondary production, in which oil recovery is
supported by the injection of water, began back in 1952 and is also almost over. Since the
crude oil in Emlichheim is very viscous and firmly embedded in the rock pores, the water
was later heated and pressed into the deposit to make the oil flow better. So-called steam
flooding is now in use in the tertiary production stage. In this process steam is pressed into
the deposit at a temperature of about 300 C and at a pressure of about 100 bar. The crude
oil in the porous rock becomes warm and less viscous and is easier to pump to the surface.
Wintershall has been successfully applying this sophisticated production technology in
Emlichheim for more than 25 years now.

The technical preconditions were established in 1980 when the steam flooding
facility was built. Then the first steam flooding project began in May 1981. The
tenth steam flooding project is currently being implemented in the Emlichheim
oil field. In 1999 Wintershall was the first company in Germany to combine steam
flooding with horizontal drilling another production-enhancing technique.
Horizontal drilling makes it possible to reach locations in a subterranean deposit
that lie several kilometers away from the surface position of the derrick.

16/17

Over the years another million tonnes of crude oil have been produced roughly every six
years in the Emlichheim field with the use of new technologies:

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Date

Oil production

February 11, 1955

1,000,000 tonnes

April 08, 1962

2,000,000 tonnes

November 10, 1968

3,000,000 tonnes

June 09, 1974

4,000,000 tonnes

January 22, 1980

5,000,000 tonnes

July 29, 1986

6,000,000 tonnes

January 28, 1993

7,000,000 tonnes

May 25, 1999

8,000,000 tonnes

October 28, 2005

9,000,000 tonnes

December 31, 2010

9,728,760 tonnes

PRODUCTION GOES ON
Oil and gas fields in Germany are not easy to develop because of the difficult
geological conditions. Compared to sites abroad, production in Germany is
more demanding when it comes to technology and is often only possible at
considerable extra expense and with special techniques. However, the expertise
that Wintershall acquires in exploration and production in Germany continually
enhances its technical competence and is applied to international projects too.
This makes the company an attractive partner for other companies in the exploration and production (E & P) industry.
Innovative technologies are becoming increasingly more important in the production of crude oil and natural gas. Instead of recovering only about one-third
of the oil in a field, which is the world average, steam flooding makes it possible
to achieve an ultimate recovery factor of up to 50 percent.
As far as Emlichheim is concerned, Wintershall has continuously kept production of crude oil at a level of roughly 140,000 tonnes per year enough to heat
about 42,000 houses for a year. Current calculations show that the deposit will
continue to make a major contribution to Germanys supply of oil for the next
20 to 25 years.

Wintershall Holding GmbH

Friedrich-Ebert-Str. 160
34119 Kassel, Germany
Phone: + 49 561 301-0
Fax:
+ 49 561 301-1702
info@wintershall.com
www.wintershall.com