Denmark will halt North Sea oil production in 2050, the Danish government said, adding that it will cancel its eighth licensing round, which was announced earlier this year.
In any case, this round did not attract much attention, only one applicant showed interest after the French Total withdrew, said in a news report.
Denmark is not a particularly large oil and gas producer, with an average daily production of 83,000 barrels of oil and 21,000 oil equivalents this year. Nevertheless, it is the largest in the European Union, which excludes Norway and, from next year, the United Kingdom.
The small Scandinavian country is also one of the most ambitious seters of climate goals. Copenhagen plans to reduce emissions by 70% from 1990 levels by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050.
“We are now ending the fossil era and drawing a line between our activities in the North Sea and the goal of climate neutrality in 2050,” said Climate Minister Dan Jørgensen in a commentary on the official statement to suspend North Sea oil and gas exploration.
The Minister added that employees of the oil and gas industry, whose jobs are planned to become redundant, will receive assistance through further training in finding a new job. Oil and gas fields will be used to store carbon, said Jørgensen
Read more: Denmark will stop extracting oil in the North Sea in 2050
