THE COPENHAGEN POST, 8 August 2003
A British oil industry expert says Denmark will be dependent on net oil imports by the year 2008. Danish energy authorities disagree
Denmark will be forced to resume oil imports as soon as 2008, due to a dramatic drop in North Sea oil production. This provocative claim comes from a respected international oil expert, after examining figures and prognoses for oil extractions in the Danish sector. Engineering journal Ingeniøren reported the news in their latest edition.
The oil expert, Chris Skrebowski, is editor-in-chief of British industry journal Petroleum Review and consultant for Aspo, a network of oil geologists and scientific professionals, which studies the world’s oil resources and their use. According to Aspo, global production of oil will peak in the year 2010.
Chris Skrebowski explained his evaluation of the Danish oil industry, noting that virtually all known Danish fields by that time will be due for a drop in production, and that only new, large-scale discoveries can offset the loss–a scenario Skrebowski says is unlikely. According to the expert, Britain will also begin net imports of oil around the same time.
The Danish Energy Authority disagrees with Skrebowksi’s forecast. According to agency spokesman Turve Falbe-Hansen, Denmark is not expected to make the transition from net exports to net imports until 2011.
Energy Authority estimates maintain that, in 2008, Denmark will have a 43 percent net export of oil, barring any new technological developments or discoveries.