About us | The History of Det norske |
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Det Norske Oljeselskap, DNO Det Norske Oljeselskap was founded in 1971, as the first Norwegian oil company. The company was also the first Norwegian oil company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Later the company changed its name to DNO. They had their first revenues in 1974 through a shareholding in the British Heather field, and was participating in its first Norwegian license in 1984. Government's policy that it would only be three Norwegian oil companies on the NSC prevented DNO from further activity on the Norwegian continental shelf. It allowed the DNO from 1996, under new management, to put their efforts outside Norway. The company's strategy was to concentrate on small oil fields and expanding production from mature fields. In 2004, DNO sold a number of license interests to the Swedish company Lundin. At the same time the NCS was opened for new companies, and DNO again acquired licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf. Pertra AS Pertra AS was founded by Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) ASA in 2001 as an exploration and production (E&P) with focus to exploit the potential of young petroleum resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The potential benefits of collaboration between Pertra and PGS were the prime mover in this work. Pertra was approved as a license holder and operator on the Norwegian continental shelf in February 2002 as the first Norwegian company operating on the Norwegian shelf in the last ten years. After the company bought the license shares in production license 038 of Statoil, Pertra took over operatorship of the license on the 1st August 2002. This license contains the producing the Varg field. At the end of 2004, PGS decides to sell Pertra. With effect from 1 January 2005, the entire company, all production licenses included, were sold to the Canadian company Talisman Energy. Soon after, the established management team in Pertra establishes a new company, Pertra Management. The new company negotiates a contract with Talisman Energy for the purchase of some of the assets Talisman had acquired from Pertra's former owner. The result was the basis for the establishment of a new exploration and production company in Trondheim. Pertra was now established again, with financial support from local investors.
In October 2007, the board of directors of Pertra and DNO decided to carry out the merger of Pertra and the Norwegian interests of DNO, which was organized through the company NOIL Energy. DNO changed its name to the DNO International. The merger was approved by general meetings in DNO and Pertra the 8 November 2007. On 19 November 2007 Pertra changed its name to "Det norske oljeselskap ASA," or simply "Det norske" colloquially. In 2008, the two companies were formally merged. After the merger the expansion continued both in numbers of employees, new licenses, operatorships, and in exploration activity. In mid 2009 the company had nearly 140 employees. Aker ASA in as a major stakeholder In 2009 the negotiations for a merger with Aker Exploration began. DNO had sold shares, from a stake of 37 percent to 25 percent. Aker ASA was now the new major shareholder. In 2006, the Aker Group established Aker Exploration ASA. The company would concentrate on exploration and production on the Norwegian continental shelf. The company secured a license and was qualified as operator in 2007. The same year the company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. In 2008 the Aker Exploration concluded a three-year lease agreement with Aker Drilling for the new advanced drilling rig Aker Barents. Aker Barents drilling operations started autumn 2009. The merger of the Det norske and Aker Exploration was approved on the companies' extraordinary general meetings October 19, 2009. The merger was effective from 23 December 2009. Det norske oljeselskap ASA, or the “Det norske” colloquially, was the name of the merged company. |
