DONG Energy becomes E&P operator in the Barents Sea

The Norwegian Oil & Energy Ministry has awarded DONG Energy a licence to search for oil and gas in an approximately 600 km2 block in the Barents Sea, off the coast at Hammerfest in Northern Norway. This means that DONG Energy now has six Norwegian licences.

Under the terms of the latest licence, PL518, a 3D-seismic survey shall be performed and one to two appraisal wells drilled within the next four years. If the results of the four year initial exploration are positive, a development plan will be submitted to the authority detailing how the concession will be developed and how production shall take place.

Anders Mørland, the Director responsible for DONG Energy’s Norwegian E&P activities says:
“We are proud of this latest licence. The Barents Sea is known as a region that is not for novices, but for companies with proven experience and expertise within exploration activities. Geographically, the concession is favourably located – only 30 km from the Goliath find that ENI and Statoil plans to produce from, and a little northwest of the area is the large Snøhvit gas field, from which the gas is piped to land via a pipeline that runs close to our concession.”

DONG Energy has already started planning for the exploration. Tenders will be invited for the task of performing the seismic survey immediately after the New Year and the hope is that the seismic investigations can be completed as early as Summer 2009.

Partners
DONG E&P Norway is designated as operator of the exploration licence (40%).
The other partners are North Energy (30%), Discover Petroleum (20%) and Sagex Petroleum Norge (10%).

For more information, contact:

Media Relations
Ulrik Frøhlke
+45 9955 9560