Denmark to ramp up North Sea gas output: press
Denmark has pledged to ramp up production from its existing North Sea gas assets, but only for a "limited time period" in order to reduce Russian imports, Reuters reported April 19.
The move comes as Copenhagen awaits next year's relaunch of the TotalEnergies-run Tyra gas field in the Danish North Sea, which is undergoing renovations and is set to resume the flow of 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day.
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Denmark has halted new upstream exploration permits as part of plans to phase out hydrocarbon production by 2050. The government believes a firm schedule is necessary to achieve its energy transition goals and withdraw fossil fuel from Denmark's energy mix.
But Russia's invasion of Ukraine has complicated Copenhagen's objective. The major parliamentary parties that comprise its coalition government have promised to end gas imports from Russian suppliers. Danish energy company Orsted underscored the scale of the task at hand on March 8, when it said it was unable to withdraw from its take-or-pay gas purchasing contract with Gazprom until 2030.
Today's announcement was a signal that Copenhagen is prepared to change its strategy, at least in the near term. The country is one of the EU's leading oil and gas producers, and Danish gas could be a crucial bulwark to help the bloc achieve energy independence from Russia in the medium term. As of 2020, the country's waters held 1 trillion ft3 in proved natural gas reserves that are still to be extracted, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.
The Danish Energy Agency estimates domestic gas output in 2024 will be around 3bn m3, a 4% decrease on its figures for 2019, according to S&P Global. Tyra will account for around two-thirds of this output, the DEA said.