Berlin – September 15, 2026 -- The Mittelplate oil platform in the UNESCO Wadden Sea World Heritage site generated just 0.2 percent of Schleswig-Holstein's state budget in 2025, according to a new analysis by German environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH).
Harbour Energy paid 45 million euros in extraction levies against a 21.9 billion euro state budget
British operator Harbour Energy paid 45 million euros in so-called extraction levies to the state of Schleswig-Holstein for 2025 oil production at Mittelplate. Measured against the state's total budget revenue of roughly 21.9 billion euros, that payment amounts to only about 0.2 percent, DUH said. The analysis draws on new figures Harbour Energy submitted during an ongoing court case brought by DUH against the platform's main operating plan.
Production fell 4.6 percent in 2025 to 861,000 tonnes, covering just 1 percent of German oil consumption
According to Schleswig-Holstein's mining, energy and geology authority, Mittelplate produced approximately 861,000 tonnes of oil in 2025, down 4.6 percent from the prior year. DUH's energy director Constantin Zerger said the platform's declining output covers only around 1 percent of German oil consumption, calling the environmental risk disproportionate to its economic weight.
Harbour Energy attributes all 490 Heide refinery jobs to Mittelplate despite sourcing just 11 percent of crude from the field
DUH disputes the operator's employment claims, noting that Harbour Energy counts all 490 employees at the Heide refinery as jobs tied to Mittelplate, even though the refinery draws only about 11 percent of its crude oil from the platform. By comparison, Schleswig-Holstein's renewable energy sector already employed around 15,500 people in 2021.
DUH demands a habitat-impact assessment and an immediate halt to drilling in the protected Wadden Sea
Mittelplate has operated since 1987 inside a Natura 2000 protected area, designated an FFH habitat site in 1998 and a European bird sanctuary in 2001, without ever undergoing a comprehensive habitat compatibility assessment, according to DUH. The group is suing over the platform's current main operating plan and is calling for the assessment to be conducted and for oil extraction to stop. DUH federal director Sascha Müller-Kraenner said extraction levies and volumes have fallen for years while risks to seals, harbor porpoises, seagrass meadows and migratory birds remain unaddressed.