Fast Market Research recommends "Germany Oil & Gas Report Q4 2012" from Business Monitor International, now available

Boston, MA -- (SBWire) -- 11/13/2012 --BMI View: For a country keen to wean itself off of fossil fuels, the decision to phase out nuclear energy represents a fresh and unwelcome challenge. Gas consumption seems certain to grow more quickly than expected as demand for power rises - until the energy void can be filled through the expansion of renewable sources. Refining capacity is being scaled back to do disappointing returns, so Germany must reduce its consumption of oil products in order to avoid becoming overly dependent on costly imports.

The main trends and developments we highlight in Germany's oil and gas sector are:

- A group led by Macquarie Group in May 2012 agreed to pay EUR3.2bn to German utility E.ON for a network of natural-gas pipelines in Germany. The price for Open Grid Europe, Germany's biggest gas transmission system, includes adjustments for pensions and other assets, E.ON said in a statement. The buyers include German reinsurer Munich Re, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and British Columbia Investment Management, E.ON said.
- The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) has issued a report which has upgraded Germany's shale gas potential to an estimated 6.8-22.6bn cubic metres (bcm) of reserves. The findings may have little impact on the parliamentary committee currently studying Germany's shale gas potential. The body is expected to report its findings before the end of 2012. The controversial hydraulic fracturing (fraccing) process has been in use in Germany at low levels since the 1990s, but increased public scrutiny has increased uncertainty over prospects for any large-scale effort to develop unconventional gas resources.
- US oil major ExxonMobil is to press ahead with the search for shale gas in Germany, and will also continue to launch conventional gas production initiatives, according to the company's head of Central European operations, Gernot Kalkoffen. This is despite doubts over the environmental impact of fraccing.
- The European Commission in August 2012 approved regulatory clearance for Gunvor Group's acquisition of the assets of the Petroplus refinery in Ingolstadt and related German marketing activities. The 100,000b/d plant is one of the best-performing European refineries, according to Gunvor, with a strong regional footprint in Germany's Bavaria region. Gunvor already trades the crude oils processed by the Ingolstadt refinery, it said, enabling greater efficiencies for the plant.
- Royal Dutch Shell is shortly to close its Harburg refinery following a fruitless search for a buyer. It will convert the main part of the facility into a fuels terminal. The base oil plant at the site will, however, be disassociated and sold to Nynas under a deal agreed in December 2011.

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