The Danish oil and gas reserves in the North Sea may be considered expensive to excavate by the state’s oil and gas company, Nordsøfonden, but a record number of oil companies have made bids in the seventh bidding round for the right to explore and drill for oil in the area.
The energy authorities Energistyrelsen revealed that 25 bids had trickled in by noon on Monday – a far greater number than the previous six bidding rounds managed to attract.
”I am very pleased with the number of applications in the bidding round as it confirms there is still a belief that interesting finds can be make in the Danish arena,” Rasmus Helveg Petersen, the climate and energy minister, said in a press release.
”It's positive because it allows us to maintain a stable exploration environment and invest in highly-specialised jobs in Denmark.”
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Lower tax incentive
Petersen will now compile a report for parliament's climate, energy and building committee conveying which concessions are desired before the final permits can be issued, which is expected to happen sometime at the beginning of 2015.
Among the oil companies to submit bids in the seventh round were DONG, Hess, Maersk Oil & Gas and Shell.
The increase in bids could be explained by this bidding round being the first since the government changed the taxation rules regarding North Sea oil excavation last year.
