About the Danish North Sea Fund

The Danish North Sea Fund was set up in 2005 as Denmark’s state-owned oil and gas company, and is a partner with a 20% ownership interest in all newer Danish licences for oil and gas exploration. 

The licences are situated in the North Sea as well as in inner Danish waters and onshore; see the licence map of the Danish North Sea Fund.

From the first licensing round in 1984, the state has had a share in all licences granted. DONG manages state-participation in licences issued until and including 2004 (5th round), while the role as state-participant in licences issued after and including 2005 has been taken over by the Danish North Sea Fund.

The Danish North Sea Fund is participating in technical, economic, legal and commercial discussions with operators and other licence partners about which exploration, appraisal and development activities to initiate. The discussions form the basis for a number of important decisions about future investments and revenues, not only for the companies involved, but also for Danish society as a whole.

The aim of the Danish North Sea Fund is to contribute to ensuring that the Danish state receives the highest possible financial outcome from state participation. Therefore, the Danish North Sea Fund has to be an active and professional partner that promotes coherent and cost-effective exploration and production in Denmark.

Through its broad participation in licences, the Danish North Sea Fund knows about the activities and plans of the many licence groups and because of this, the Fund can contribute to coordinating knowledge about exploration for oil and gas in Denmark. This benefits the Danish state’s total knowledge about the Danish subsoil and also contributes significantly to the basis for decisions by the licence groups.

Other than the current participation in exploration licences, the Danish North Sea Fund will also be a partner in the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC) with 20% in 2012, together with A.P. Møller-Mærsk, Shell and Chevron. In the years to come, the Danish North Sea Fund will build up an organisation which, on a qualified basis, can deal with taking over this share in the DUC by the Danish state.

The Danish North Sea Fund was set up in 2005 as Denmark’s state-owned oil and gas company and is a partner in all newer Danish licences.

The Danish North Sea Fund participates in licences for exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas in Denmark. The Danish North Sea Fund pays its share of the costs in the licence and receives corresponding shares of the oil and gas produced. The Danish North Sea Fund normally participates with 20%.

The Danish North Sea Partner is a state entity under the Ministry of Climate and Energy which acts on behalf of the Danish North Sea Fund. Accordingly, the Danish North Sea Partner rather than the Fund employs the personnel. As at January 2010, the Danish North Sea Partner had eight employees as well as associated consultants from the oil industry. The Danish North Sea Partner expects to increase staff gradually over the next couple of years.



A similar model, with a division into a public fund and an entity to act on behalf of the Fund, is known from Norway and the Netherlands, which have Petoro and EBN, respectively.

In 2012, the Danish North Sea Fund will become a partner in the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC) together with A.P. Møller-Mærsk, Shell and Chevron, with a 20% ownership interest. In addition to participation in current licences, the Danish North Sea Partner is therefore building an organisation which, on a qualified basis, can perform the DUC participation and a share of the oil and gas produced.

This meens that the organisation of the Danish North Sea Partner beside its technical skills also need to include commercial skills. This is to secure the organisation to be prepared for and to obtain the best possible results from a considerable oil and gas production. This will be partly through expansion of permanent staff, partly through cooperation with other state expertise, including in particular the Danish Energy Agency and GEUS, and finally through obtaining expert knowledge from the oil and gas industry.

The Danish North Sea Fund and the Danish North Sea Partner were established by Act no. 587 of 24 June 2005 (Bill with accompanying observations). Articles of Association for the Fund are stated in Executive Order no. 710 of 21 June 2007.