E&P in Brief. A Wintershall Fact Sheet. Wintershall in Argentina

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1 Page 1 E&P in Brief A Wintershall Fact Sheet Wintershall in Argentina Annual production in Argentina approx. 25 million barrels of oil equivalent Field development in Tierra del Fuego and Neuquén Center for research into unconventional reservoirs Wintershall has been producing hydrocarbons, especially natural gas, in Argentina for more than 35 years and is now the fourth-largest gas producer in the country. The company is active in the central Argentinean provinces Neuquén and Mendoza, as well as in the south off the coast of Tierra del Fuego. The fully owned subsidiary Wintershall Energía S.A currently holds working interests in 15 oil and gas fields overall and produces some 25 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) annually. Provinz Mendoza 3 Tierra del Fuego: increase in production Neuquén- Becken 2 Provinz Neuquén Wintershall has been active in Tierra del Fuego in the south of Argentina since In 1989 the company began with oil production in the Hidra field, situated in the Austral Basin in the province Tierra del Fuego. As a partner, Wintershall has continuously made efforts to increase natural gas production from the offshore fields ever since. These improvements have been made possible by applying cutting edge technology combined with high investments. Today, more than 18 million m 3 per day of natural gas are extracted from the CMA-1 area (including the Carina and Aries fields). That equals about 20 percent of total production in Argentina. Two thirds of the natural gas produced here comes from the Carina and Aries fields, in which Wintershall holds a 37.5% participation interest (other partners are TO- TAL (Operator) and Pan American South). To mitigate the natural Austral- Becken Production Exploration Operator Gasfield 1 Oil- and Gasfield Tierra del Fuego

2 Page 2 production decline of the fields new production wells are being drilled since May 2014 in the Carina field. Wintershall is also currently working on the development of the new field Vega Pleyade in the Argentinean Sea off the coast of Tierra del Fuego together with the operator Total and Pan American South. The start of production from this field is planned for 2016 and will make up for the natural decline in production volumes from the Carina and Aries fields. The offshore field Vega Pleyade is the most important development project for Wintershall in Argentina with reserves of some 25 billion m 3 of natural gas. An additional platform is currently being built for this field in Cadiz in Spain. The maximum capacity of the platform will be ten million m 3 of natural gas per day. Following the installation of the production platform off the coast of Tierra del Fuego, a 77-kilometer-long gas export pipeline will be built and up to three horizontal production wells drilled. The new plattform in Vega Pleyade will be the most southern gas producing plattform in the world. Südamerika Carina platform and offshore drilling platform Constellation II off the coast of Tierra del Fuego: the southern-most gas production facility in the world. 20 years experience in Neuquén province Wintershall has been active in the production of conventional natural gas and oil in the Neuquén province for more than 20 years: in the fields San Roque (since 1994), Aguada Pichana (since 1996) and Bandurria (since 2001). The three neighboring blocks also show interesting potential for shale oil and gas as they lie in the area of the very promising Vaca Muerta formation. Wintershall is now conducting exploration wells with its partners to investigate this potential of this play. Wintershall holds a share of 27.3 percent in the Aguada Pichana block in Neuquén province (operator is Total 27.3%, YPF 27.3%, PAE 18.1%). So far more than 270 wells have been drilled in this block,

3 Page 3 which stretches over 1,364 km 2. Natural gas is being produced from about 200 of these wells today. For 2015 around ten new wells are planned, most of them targeting tight gas reservoirs. In 2014 the block has produced on average 7.7 million standard cubic meters of gas and 250 standard cubic meters of condensate daily. In addition, in 2014 a shale gas pilot project consisting in 12 horizontal wells with horizontal sections ranging 1.5 and 2.0 km started drilling in the block targeting the Vaca-Muerta-Formation in the gas window. The San Roque block covers an area of 1,040 km 2 (Wintershall 24.7%, operator Total 24.7%, YPF 34.1%, PAE 16.5%) and is situated north-east of Aguada Pichana. Six million standard cubic meters of gas and 470 cubic meters of oil are produced daily from about 50 wells. Three wells already produce oil from the Vaca-Muerta- Formation. Wintershall also has a working interest in the 465-km 2 block Bandurria (south of San Roque). The Consortium (Wintershall 27.27%, operator YPF 54.54% and PAE 18.18%) is currently drilling technology wells with the objective to better understand the potential of the block and to determine the best location for a pilot project. Seismic trucks in Neuquén province. San Roque Aguada Federal Bandurria Aguada Pichana Harnessing the great potential of unconventional resources Argentina has the second-largest shale gas deposits in the world. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the country has 23 trillion cubic meters of shale gas which equals 11 percent of the global shale gas reserves. For shale oil reserves, Argentina lies fourth worldwide, with 27 billion barrels of oil

4 Page 4 equivalent (boe). Hence, Argentina is one of the most important growth regions in unconventional resources alongside the USA. The geological formation Vaca Muerta, also situated in the Argentinean province Neuquén, is particularly important. It is one of the largest shale gas and shale oil formations worldwide: the EIA estimates that the formation has recoverable reserves of 16.2 billion barrels of oil and 8.7 trillion cubic meters of gas. The formation covers an area of 30,000 km 2 at a depth of about 3,000 meters and has generally between 600 and 150 meters thickness and a high content of Total Organic Carbon (TOC). All technical specifications of the Vaca Muerta shale compare well with already proven shale in the US. The exploration and production of unconventional energy resources poses major technological challenges. Wintershall is in an excellent position to master these challenges owing to its many decades of experience in environmentally responsible and efficient production from complex reservoirs, and thanks to its specialist technological expertise in the production of tight gas in Germany. Operator in the promising Vaca Muerta formation Since 2014, Wintershall has held a 50 percent share in the Aguada Federal block in the Neuquén province and is the operator here. Together with the local state-owned energy company Gas y Petróleo del Neuquén S.A. (GyP), Wintershall wants to investigate the block and if possible develop it further. The block also contains promising shale in the Vaca Muerta formation. The reservoir is situated between 2,700 and 3,000 meters underground. Shale oil and shale gas are embedded in the compact rock where they were formed and could not migrate to higher and more permeable rock strata like conventional reserves. Hence, horizontal wells and hydraulic stimulation (hydraulic fracturing) are necessary to extract this oil and gas. So far there are around 400 shale wells in the entire Vaca Muerta region. The first well in the block Aguada Federal in Neuquén province will be drilled in There is a great deal of potential in shale rock but a lot of research has to be conducted to confirm this potential, Mario Mehren, member of the Wintershall Board of Executive Directors responsible for Argentina, explained. Wintershall has the technologies to take part in the research here in a responsible manner. The German E&P company

5 Page 5 brings its technological know-how and comprehensive expertise in efficient and ecologically responsible production to Aguada Federal. Wintershall s partner GyP has been active in the Aguada Federal block since The first exploration phase begins in spring 2015 with two exploration wells simulated by hydraulic fracturing. The company plans to drill up to six producing pilot. Mendoza province: Wintershall as operator In 2012 Wintershall Energía received two exploration licenses for the blocks CN-V (100% Wintershall) and Ranquil Norte (50 % Wintershall, 50 % Total) in the south of Mendoza province. Wintershall is the operator of both blocks. In spring 2013 Wintershall conducted the first exploration activities in block CN-V with a 3-D seismic survey of 956 km 2, and in 2014 a seismic survey of 2232 km 2 was acquired in Ranquil Norte. Responsible partner with local ties Wintershall has been working in Argentina for over three decades and has established a strong bond with Argentina. For Wintershall, close ties and good cooperation between industry, policy-makers and citizens are important for producing the energy resources available in a sustainable manner. Wintershall is also committed to social and cultural projects in the regions of Argentina where it works, and supports numerous local projects in health, education and culture there. Hence, Wintershall takes responsibility and accountability in very concrete ways as a reliable partner. These and other images are available for downloading in the Media Library at