Oil fever in Usedom

A brown, steaming broth bubbles and gurgles beneath Jaap Bouwman. He's average height, in his mid-sixties, dressed in a white protective suit and standing on a metal grate above frantically vibrating sand, rocks and drilling fluid.

"This comes up from a depth of 1,900 meters and is continually being evaluated," Bouwman told Deutsche Welle. "If we hit oil or gas, then we notice it here immediately."

There's nothing as of yet, but the Dutchman believes there's a 250-million-year old treasure waiting below to be discovered by his company, Central European Petroleum (CEP).

CEP's white painted drilling rig stretches 54 meters into the skies of the Baltic Sea island of Usedom, at Pudagla, on the side away from the open sea. The landscape here gently opens to the mouth of the Peene river. Some 50 years ago, an East German (GDR) drilling operation struck oil in the area, but little was done to exploit the resource.

"Until recently, the eastern part of Germany was still a blank on the maps of the oil experts," says Bouwman. Most local oil production comes from the western German states of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein.

The search before the search

Six years ago, while acting as the German Honorary Consul in Calgary, Bouwman had spoken to two Canadian experts on the subject of the oil in Usedom. Bouwman wanted to know why there was so little information about the topic and saw his chance to set out and dig up data which had become lost when the GDR collapsed.

"We canvassed all the authorities, research institutions and universities in the area until we had the documents together," he said. From the seismic and exploratory data they collected, Bouwman could tell there was definitely oil there.

"We just don't know if it flows well," he said.

An initial test of four wells in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ought to bring some clarity to the situation. The test sites are estimated to cost ten million euros each. But the reservoirs at Pudagla are expected to contain some ten million barrels of oil, with each barrel containing 159 liters or 42 gallons.

"In earlier years that might not have been worth it, but at $110 per barrel it's now lucrative," Bouwman said.

Fear of environmental damage

On the drilling platform Bouwman has everything under control, but in the neighborhood he is fighting against the skepticism of local residents. Oil has a bad image. What about environmental damage and noise? That might scare off tourists.

In a phone interview the mayor of Pudagla said he's lost the heart to complain, since grumbling wouldn't change anything anyway. But the mood is getting better for the prospector. Sandra Doil from Usedom's tourism bureau, admitted that there is now a "good cooperation."

"Initially there was skepticism," she told Deutsche Welle. "But so far there hasn't been any effect on tourism and the system hardly makes any noise."

Doil has seen the plant itself, calling it "impressive."

CEP's Bouwman sees oil drilling at Usedom as a good scenario for the locals.

"Ten percent of our spending will stay with the people in the region. If we find oil, the region will earn with us," he said.

And it would be oil free of dictators, civil war and environmental destruction, he added. When he talks about oil, Bouwman's voice takes on a warm enthusiastic tone.

"Six thousand items in our everyday lives are produced with oil," he said. "It's actually a shame to burn the stuff."

Author: Heiner Kiesel (sjt)
Editor: Gerhard Schneibel