Exactly 40 years ago Maersk Oil produced first oil in the North Sea. The production has not only resulted in 2.1 billion barrels of oil extracted, it has also given Maersk Oil thorough knowledge of operating challenging fields, the Group press release said.
In 1962, A.P. Moller - Maersk was awarded the sole concession to explore for oil and gas in Denmark marking the foundation of Maersk Oil. Since then 2.1 billion barrels of oil have been produced in the area, and more is to come.
In the 1970s and 1980s, it was a hard slog to produce even the tiniest amount of oil in the area. Using the industry standard vertical drilling and naturally-occurring pressure, just 5% of oil was producible from reservoirs of tight chalk through which any liquid flows with difficulty.
However, during the 80s and 90s Maersk Oil drilled its first horizontal well and, combined with injection of water into reservoirs, raised the amount of oil and gas that can be produced to about 30%.
"Our history in the Danish North Sea is marked by a pioneering, 'can-do' spirit. We never had easy oil and had to learn the hard way how to get it out. But that turned us into a resilient company that valued creative thinking and technological innovation,"
Jakob Thomasen, Maersk Oil CEO
Going global
Handling the difficult conditions of oil and gas production in the North Sea, Maersk Oil specialised in turning marginal and challenging fields into commercial successes; an expertise which became very useful when venturing further into the world.
In the Al Shaheen field in Qatar, which is thinly spread across a vast expanse, traditional development of the field would have been uneconomic.
"Our expertise allowed us to drill extremely long wells that infiltrated such slim reservoirs, making production commercially viable. Today, we produce 300,000 barrels a day from Al Shaheen, which together with the Danish North Sea, is the cornerstone of Maersk Oil's business," says Jakob Thomasen.
Today, Maersk Oil has changed from a minor Danish company to becoming a truly global firm with 3,200 employees in 11 countries.
Drilling more wells
Besides the global approach, with exploration and production activities across five continents, Maersk Oil continues to have a strong focus on the North Sea.
Last week, Maersk Oil announced yet another exploration well to be drilled in the North Sea.
Visit the 40th anniversary on Maersk Oil's internet here.
"This exploration well shows Maersk Oil continues to be fully committed to oil and gas production in Denmark and believes there is more oil and gas to be found in this mature region," said Esbern Hoch, Head of Exploration for Denmark, Greenland and the Middle East North Africa region.
"We will be committing not just substantial financial resources, but also a lot of time, technical expertise and people to this project as our exploration and production adventure here takes on a second life," Hoch said.
All news