Denmark's Ministry of Environment and Energy is to award 17 new licenses for offshore exploration and production, with foreign firms accounting for many license interests.
The awards follow Denmark's fifth offshore licensing round, which opened in summer 1997 and was intended to continue the country's recent policy of attracting investment from international industry (OGJ, Nov. 18, 1996, p. 29).
The licenses cover a total area of 6,341 sq km in the western part of Denmark's offshore sector. The ministry said operators of fifth-round licenses have committed to spend a total 1.7 billion Danish kroner ($250 million) on exploration over 6 years.
The operators have agreed to drill 13 exploration wells in total, with a further 8 promised if discoveries are made. They also have pledged to carry out seismic and geological surveys.
Svend Auken, minister for environment and energy, intends to sign the new licenses on June 15 so that operators can begin exploration work this summer.
Participants
Wood Mackenzie Consultants Ltd., Edinburgh, said existing players in Denmark's offshore area were awarded significant acreage, including: Dansk Undergrunds Consortium (DUC) partners Maersk Olie & Gas AS, Dansk Shell AS, and Texaco Denmark Inc.; Amerada Hess AS; Denerco Oil AS; and Enterprise Oil Denmark Ltd.
Seven new entrants account for more than a quarter of new license interests: Clam, a joint venture of Marathon Oil Co. and Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Co., Houston; Marathon; Saga Petroleum ASA, Oslo; Veba Oel AG, Hamburg; Kerr-McGee Corp.; ARCO; and Samedan Oil Corp., Ardmore, Okla., for which Brabant Petroleum Ltd., Tonbridge, U.K. will act as operator (see table [60,830 bytes]).
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