Offshore staff
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – The Danish Underground Consortium (DUC) companies of AP Moller – Maersk, Shell, Chevron, and the state-owned North Sea Fund are funding a program to increase recovery from offshore Denmark.
The group has committed $184 million over 10 years to support the activities of the new Hydrocarbon Research and Technology Centre, based at Denmark’s Technical University (DTU) in Lyngby. It will be led by Bo Cerup-Simonsen, a former DTU academic, engineer, and previously head of Maersk Maritime Technology.
“Here is great potential in theDanish North Sea, but the subsurface is complex and therefore innovative thinking is needed to help increase the recovery factor,” he said.
Danish fields are typically in tight chalk layers that restrict oil and gas extraction. Ultimate recovery is currently estimated at around 26% of oil in place. This compares with 41% and 46%, respectively,offshore Norway and the UK, where the subsurface oil-bearing layers comprise predominantly sandstone.
The new center will foster new technologies to increase overall volumes that can be brought onstream. It will collaborate with other institutes including the University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, Aalborg University, and GEUS (Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland).
05/13/2014
