Nordsøfonden Joins The Danish Underground Consortium

Effective from today, July 9, the Danish state-run Nordsøfonden will in accordance with the 2003 sole concession extension agreement join the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC). The new participant will take a 20% interest in the DUC, with A.P. Moller-Maersk, Shell and Chevron reducing their stakes proportionally.

The interest split now leaves A.P. Moller-Maersk with 31.2%, Shell 36.8%, Chevron 12.0% and Nordsøfonden 20%. Maersk Oil will continue as operator.

“We would like to welcome Nordsøfonden to the DUC and look forward to joining forces for the next 30 years of the concession. DUC has challenging opportunities ahead as we continue seeking new ways of increasing oil and gas recovery from the Danish North Sea,” said Jakob Thomasen, CEO of Maersk Oil.

“Nordsøfonden will be a true partner. It will contribute to and receive benefits from the DUC according to its 20% working interest. It is taking the role as an active company operating on a commercial basis and rationale,” Thomasen said.

“Our role as a commercial partner in DUC is to provide the State with the best possible economic returns. We do this by working actively to “make the cake bigger”, said Nordsøfonden’s CEO Peter Helmer Steen. “From a 30 year perspective, I see a huge potential for increased production from both existing fields and new fields, and the new DUC group has a wide range of challenging production enhancing projects ahead.”

DUC operates 16 fields, with a daily production of about 180,000 barrels of oil and 14 million cubic metres of gas.

The financial impact of Nordsøfonden’s entrance has already been absorbed by A.P. Moller-Maersk through other changes in terms and conditions introduced by the 2003 sole concession extension agreement.

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Press Release, July 9, 2012