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EXPLORATION

21September 2016

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EXPLORATIONThe Danish part of the North Sea must be considered a mature area. Nevertheless, there are still interesting new exploration prospects and existing exploration targets that remain to be intensively explored.

The award of 16 new licences in the 7th Licensing Round in 2016 means that extensive exploration activity can be expected in and around the Central Graben in the years to come. In 2016 the DEA received one application for an area in another part of Denmark, which signals that interest in exploration continues outside the traditional North Sea are-as. The drilling of the first onshore exploration well for shale gas, Vendsyssel-1 in North Jutland in 2015, was another manifestation of this interest.

7TH LICENSING ROUNDDanish and international oil companies showed keen interest in applying for licences in the 7th Licensing Round, and when the time limit for submitting applications expired, the DEA had received 25 applications for new licences.

On 6 April 2016, after assessing the applications and hold-ing discussions with the applicants, the Minister for Energy, Utilities and Climate awarded 16 new licences for oil and gas exploration and production. The 16 new licences cover areas totalling 4,064 km², the equivalent of about one-fourth of the area offered for licensing (16,869 km²). The location of the licence areas is shown on maps at the back at the section.

Overall, the work programmes comprise two firm wells and up to 24 conditional wells, and also include obligations to conduct geophysical and geological surveys. Generally, the work programmes are more limited in scope than in previous licensing rounds, a trend also seen in several other North Sea countries. The DEA anticipates that exploration activities under the 16 new licences over the next six years will represent a total cost of about DKK 800 million.

In the 7th Licensing Round, licences were granted to several oil companies not previously holding licences in Denmark. At the same time, the companies DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, Edi-son International S.P.A., Hansa Hydrocarbons and Ardent Oil were approved as operators for some of the new licences. These companies have not previously held operatorships in Denmark.

SHALE GASIn 2015 Total and Nordsøfonden drilled an exploration well to a depth of 3.6 km, Vendsyssel-1 at Dybvad in Vendsyssel. The exploration well target was shale gas. The well con-firmed the presence of gas in the shale, but also demon-strated that the shale was not as thick as expected.

The companies chose to relinquish licence 1/10 in North Jutland on 5 June 2016, as – on the basis of subsequent well data analyses – they confirmed the shale play, but the productivity was to low to result in an economiccaly viable project at present.

In 2012 a temporary halt was placed on issuing new on-shore licences with shale gas as the exploration target. The suspension was introduced to investigate the possibilities of promoting safe and environmentally sound production of shale gas. Before new licences can be granted where the exploration target is shale gas, an evaluation must be per-formed amongst others on the basis of experience gained from the Vendsyssel-1well in North Jutland.

In mid-2016 the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate embarked on the first part of the evaluation of shale gas in Denmark, expected to be completed around the turn of the year 2016/17. It will subsequently be decided whether additional issues should be subject to a full evaluation. A time schedule for a potential full evaluation will be drawn up once the outcome of the initial part of the evaluation is available.

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EXPLORATORY SURVEYS

SURVEY OPERATOR ON-/OFFSHORE INITIATED LICENCE CONTRACTOR TYPE COMPLETED AREA ACQUIRED

ORG SURVEY Ithaca Petroluem Norge AS Offshore 29-06-2015 § 3 and Concedo ASA Electromagnetic 31-06-2015 North Sea 35 km ORG Geophysical survey

DG 15001 DONG E&P NORGE A/S Offshore 12-07-2015 § 3 DCGG Services SA 3D seismics 08-08-2015 North Sea 73 km2

PGS15015 FASE 1 PGS Geophysical AS Offshore 22-09-2015 § 3 PGS Geophysical AS 3D seismics 30-10-2015 North Sea 1,241 km2

GEOCHEMICAL SURVEY Wintershall Offshore 27-09-2015 5/06 § 3 Fugro Survey BV Seabed sampels, 30-09-2015 North Sea 80 samples geochemical

Figure 1. Seismic data acquired 1996 - 2015

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2D seismic in km

3D seismic in km²

km 2D km2 3D

Table1. Exploratory surveys in 2015

Oil companies depend on seismic data to identify the prospects of making new oil and gas discoveries. In 2015 four exploratory surveys were performed in the western part of the North Sea. The level of activity was somewhat lower than in 2013 and 2014, when more major 2D and 3D seismic surveys were carried out in the North Sea as part of the run-up to the 7th Licensing Round; see table 1 and figure 1.

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EXPLORATION AND APPRAISAL WELLS

WELL PURPOSE LICENCE OPERATOR INITIATED ON-/OFFSHORRE DRILLING RESULTNUMBER COMPLETED AREA

Xana-1X Exploration 9/95 Mærsk Olie og Gas A/S 08-12-2014 Offshore Hydrocarbons in Upper 5604/26-07 25-05-2015 The Central Graben Jurassic sandstone

Lille John-2 Appraisal 12/06 Dana Petroleum B.V. 13-12-2014 Offshore Oil in Miocene 5504/20-06 13-02-2015 The Central Graben sandstone

Vendsyssel-1 Exploration 1/10 TOTAL E&P Denmark B.V. 04-05-2015 Onshore Gas in Alum shale5710/22-02 02-09-2015 North Jutland

Jude-1 Appraisal 8/06 Mærsk Olie og Gas A/S 02-06-2015 Offshore Oil in 5504/07-18 area B 21-08-2015 The Central Graben Lower Cretaceous

Figure 2. Exploration and appraisal wells drilled from 1992 - 2014

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Table 2. Exploration and appraisal wells in 2015

Four exploration and appraisal wells were drilled in 2015 – three in the western part of the North Sea and one onshore in North Jutland. Two of the exploration wells resulted in two new discoveries, and two appraisal wells confirmed previous discoveries; see table 2 and figure 2.

The Vendsyssel-1 exploration well encountered gas in alum shale in North Jutland.

The Xana-1 exploration well demonstrated the presence of hydrocarbons in Upper Jurassic sandstone under licence 9/95 and is now being evaluated. The two appraisal wells in the North Sea, Lille John-2 and Jude-1, confirmed the presence of hydrocar-bons in the Lille John accumulation and Bo South, respectively.

The results from the Jude-1 well is now being closely evaluated, while the Lille John accumulation has been declared commerciel.

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Figure 3. Exploration and appraisal wells i 2015.

6°15' VENDSYSSEL-1

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Other explora�on and appraisal wells

Exis�ng licences

Explora�on and appraisal wells drilled in 2015

1/10 (Relinquished)

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7TH LICENSING ROUND6°

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EXPLORATION WELLS AND DISCOVERIES - LICENSING ROUND AREA

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