DONG Energy Plans to Sell Its Oil & Gas Unit by Year End

DONG Energy expects to divest its activities within exploration and production of oil and gas before the end of this year. 

Upon the release of Q3 2016 results in November 2016, Henrik Poulsen, DONG’s CEO and President, announced that DONG had decided to start a process with an aim of ultimately exiting from its oil and gas business. 

“This should be seen in the context of DONG Energy’s strategic transformation towards becoming a global leader in renewables and a wish to ensure the best possible long-term development opportunities for our oil and gas business,” Poulsen said.

Following the announcement, reports emerged saying that DONG Energy was in negotiation with Maersk over a merger of their fossil fuel businesses, as DONG is focusing fully on offshore wind and Maersk on transport and logistics.

The offshore wind giant said the activities are expected to be sold by the end of 2017 within a notice on the Oil & Gas segment being presented as discontinuing operations in the financial statements for full-year 2016. The company is scheduled to release its Annual report for 2016 on 2 February.

DONG (Dansk Olie og Naturgas/ Danish Oil and Natural Gas) became DONG Energy in 2006 with the merger of six Danish energy companies: DONG, Elsam, Energi E2, Nesa, Københavns Energi and Frederiksberg Forsyning. “Since DONG Energy was formed in 2006, we have changed from one of the most coal-intensive utilities in Europe to a global leader in renewable energy,” the company states on its website.

Offshore WIND Staff