New investments
The 16 new licences are at the first stage to invest a total of around 1 billion DKK, of which Nordsøfonden's share will be approximately 200 million DKK. The investments cover subsurface studies, which will help elucidate the possibility of presence of hydrocarbon resources in the new licence areas. The individual studies will contribute to a better and more nuanced picture of the overall potential in the Danish subsurface.
"Nordsøfonden looks forward to work together with the licence holders to investigate more of the Danish subsurface in order to increase the Danish reserves. The work that starts now is of great importance for both security of supply and the Danish economy," says Director of Nordsøfonden, Peter Helmer Steen.
Nordsøfonden - a competent partner
With its insights into the Danish subsurface and the Danish legislation, Nordsøfonden can help create value for the projects and facilitate good cooperation with the relevant stakeholders. "First step is to make contact with the licence holders and establish the legal framework for the licence groups. We look forward to getting to work and contribute with our unique knowledge of the Danish area," says Peter Helmer Steen, noting that the new licensees both counts companies already established in the Danish area as well as companies that are new in Danish context.
New possibilities
An interesting aspect of the future tasks outlined in the work programs for the new licences is that the work programs represent both exploration as well as appraisal and include the most of the geological column. This shows that there is an expectation that the Danish underground holds other opportunities than the chalk deposits from which the majority of Denmark's current production occur.
Licensing rounds are important for Denmark
Nordsøfonden welcomes the fact that the 7th Licensing Round is now completed and that the exploration work can begin. Meanwhile Peter Helmer Steen emphasizes that it is important to continue planning an 8th Licensing Round within a short period of time:
"In the oil and gas industry, the time span from exploration to production is quite long. The work that starts now can be of great importance for the Danish economy and employment situation in a number of years from now. Since only a certain proportion of exploration licences lead to a commerciality agreement and later production, it is important to continuously initiate new exploration work," says the Director.