Denmark is the largest oil and gas producer in the European Union. Great Britain and Norway may produce much more, but these two countries are not part of the European Union.

The country announced two years ago that it would completely stop producing oil and gas for the next 30 years. But gas production is currently on the rise. “We will increase production for a limited period,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said during a press conference this morning. It is better to produce gas in the North Sea than to buy it from Vladimir Putin.

The increase in gas production is part of the Danish energy transition plan presented today Danmark can do more (Denmark can do more.) Because of the war in Ukraine, the Danish government is temporarily forced to make choices other than the exclusive choice of green energy sources.

Denmark has 55 oil and gas platforms in the Danish part of the North Sea. In 2019, it is still extracting more than 3 billion cubic meters of gas. The country still has about 28 billion cubic meters of gas reserves, some of which are exported.

Central heating

Another part of the plan presented today is to speed up the degassing of 400,000 homes. District heating projects are also being expanded, and energy production from solar and wind energy will be quadrupled over the next eight years.

The Baltic Pipeline, a gas pipeline that runs from Norway to Poland through Danish waters, should also be completed this year. Construction was halted for nine months due to environmental permits, but a week after the invasion of Ukraine, a permit was issued to continue construction.

Holland

The Dutch government also wants to increase gas production in the North Sea again. This gas extraction is expensive, but with high gas prices and no dependence on Russia, it is still seen as interesting.

Permit procedures often take years, but Minister Rob Gettin (Climate and Energy) announced last month that he wanted to speed up those procedures.