Page 12 - EurOil Week 29 2021

EurOil POLICY EurOil

Greenland ends oil

and gas search

GREENLAND GREENLAND has declared it will no longer by cutting the annual subsidiary of DKK3.4bn
hunt for oil and gas, marking a major policy ($540mn) it receives.
The move is a major turnaround for the self-governing territory of Greenland has been looking for oil and
turnaround for Denmark. gas for 50 years, with initial efforts encour-
the island seeking The left-leaning government in Greenland aged by soaring oil prices in the 1970s as a
to overcome its described the decision as a “natural step,” because result of OPEC supply cuts. The government
dependence on Danish it “takes the climate seriously.” But it also noted enlisted Cairn Energy to start the search in
subsidies. that unfeasible costs were also a factor. 2009, and the company struck gas off Green-
The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates land’s west coast in 2010. But Cairn spent
that there could be 17.5bn undiscovered bar- over $1bn on dry wells in the search for oil
rels of oil and 4.2 trillion cubic metres of gas, before giving up.
although no commercial discoveries have been BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, Equinor
made yet. But the government on July 15 said it and Royal Dutch Shell also secured licences, but
believed “the price of oil extraction is too high. later left the country without making any discov-
This is based upon economic calculations, but eries. At present, there are four active hydrocar-
considerations of the impact on climate and bon licences in the country, one of which is held
the environment also play a central role in this by Panoceanic Energy and state-owned Nunaoil,
decision.” and three more controlled by Greenland Gas &
The issue of new licences for oil and gas explo- Oil.
ration will end in Greenland, Minister for Natu- Denmark itself ended offshore oil and gas
ral Resources Naaja Nathanielsen commented, licensing in December last year, midway through
drawing attention to the need to protect the a licensing round that was cancelled. Denmark,
country’s nature, fisheries and tourism. Green- which flows around 100,000 barrels per day
land would be “better off focusing on sustainable (bpd) of oil, is the biggest oil and gas producer to
development, such as the potential for renewable take such a step, which it did after similar moves
energy.” by France, Ireland and Spain.
This marks a major U-turn in Greenland’s West Europe’s largest producers Norway and
policy towards hydrocarbons. Just a year and a the UK has resisted such calls. Norway even
half ago, the government adopted a new oil and expects to continue issuing oil and gas licensing
gas strategy aimed at promoting more explo- for decades to come, while the UK has merely
ration, to help Greenlanders realise their long- increased the environmental scrutiny involved
held dream of independence from Denmark, in the process. ™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 29 22•July•2021