Danish natural gas production takes place in the Danish part of the North Sea.
From the fields in the North Sea, the majority of the gas is transported via upstream pipelines to a gas processing plant in Nybro on the west coast of Jutland, while a smaller part is transported to The Netherlands via a pipeline connected to the NOGAT pipeline in the Dutch part of the North Sea.
From the gas processing plant in Nybro, the gas is transported into the transmission system, the highways in the Danish natural gas system. The transmission system is connected to the transmission systems in Germany and Sweden to whom Denmark exports gas.
Two gas storage facilities in Lille Torup in Jutland and Stenlille on Sealand are also connected to the transmission system. These facilities are used to balance seasonal and demand fluctuations, as well as for storing emergency supplies.
Except for a few centralised power plants, which are connected directly to the transmission system, natural gas for domestic consumption is distributed to the consumers through the distribution network.
Danish natural gas produced and transported onshore in 2008 amounted to 8.9 billion m3, while Danish natural gas consumption was about 4.3 billion m3.
The major part of Danish natural gas production comes from the fields owned by Dansk Undergrunds Consortium, DUC, while DONG Energy A/S, Hess, and others account for a smaller part of the production.
DONG Energy A/S owns and operates the upstream pipelines that transport gas to the shore in Denmark, as well as the gas processing plant in Nybro, whereas Energinet.dk is responsible for operating the transmission network. The storage facilities are owned and run by DONG Storage (Stenlille) and Energinet.dk (Lille Torup), while the distribution system is divided into regions, of which DONG Gas Distribution is responsible for southern part of Jutland and southern and western part of Sealand; Naturgas Midt-Nord is responsible for mid and northern part of Jutland; Naturgas Fyn is responsible for tha island Funen; and Hovedstadregionens Naturgas is responsible for the Greater Copenhagen area.
A supply obligation company is linked to each area of Denmark to which natural gas is supplied, so that all existing and potential natural gas consumers in these areas are ensured the option of receiving natural gas. The supply obligation companies are owned by, or are in some other way linked to, the distribution companies.
In addition to the supply obligation companies, natural gas consumers may buy their natural gas from other suppliers in the natural gas market. At the website www.naturgasmarked.dk (only available in Danish), you will be able to see a list of all natural gas suppliers in the Danish natural gas market. Private consumers can also see a list of the suppliers in their area and compare prices at www.gasprisguiden.dk (only available in Danish).