Smallest German oil company seeks new owner3 Oct 2024 18:44
At the beginning of July, the financial sources dried up: Rhein Petroleum, based in Heidelberg, had to file for bankruptcy. The company has been producing oil in Riedstadt, Hesse, since 2018, albeit in manageable quantities. Around 65 barrels per day - the equivalent of a good 10,000 liters of oil - are currently being extracted from the "Schwarzbach 1" and "Schwarzbach 2" wells. The company has eight employees and, given these figures, is considered the smallest active oil producer in Germany .
Big things were planned: in 2022, the British investor Beacon Energy took over all of the company's shares, which had previously been held by the Dutch raw materials company Tulip Oil alongside Deutsche Rohstoff AG. The aim at the time was to start oil production in other areas as well. Because oil prices had risen and extraction technology had improved, the calculation went, production in areas previously considered unprofitable could once again be worthwhile. But the search for suitable locations and subsequent test drilling cost millions - and did not produce the hoped-for results. And so in the summer Henrik Schmoll from the Wellensiek law firm took over as insolvency administrator .
An oil producer in bankruptcy? For Schmoll, too, it is "not an everyday insolvency procedure." Especially since the mining supervisory authorities have high requirements, such as groundwater protection, that must be met. The administrator nevertheless managed to stabilize business operations and reduce costs. He is now trying to find an investor for Rhein Petroleum.
Half a dozen interested parties
"There are around half a dozen interested parties that we are talking to now," says Schmoll. He expects to receive binding offers by the end of October. Ideally not only for the ongoing production operations, but also for the Rhein Petroleum projects in other regions. The problem: "The existing boreholes may have to be reused or filled in again," says Schmoll. The company assumes that the collateral pledged for this is sufficient. But a residual risk remains. In addition, the responsible mining authorities will also check to what extent an investor "has the necessary qualifications and financial resources" before transferring a license, says Schmoll.
The oil business itself, on the other hand, is almost a sure-fire success : From Riedstadt in Hesse, the crude oil is transported by truck to a refinery in Karlsruhe, where it is further processed for the plastics and pharmaceutical industries, among others. According to Schmoll, there is certainly a "robust demand" for the low-sulphur, light oil.
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