The Shell refinery in Fredericia

Facts

Black gold in Danish waters

By Henrik Harnow, Museumsinspektør, Ph.D., Odense Bys Museer (18 stories)

The Shell refinery in Fredericia processes oil products from the Danish North Sea oilfields. Built in 1963-66, the refinery originally covered around 70 hectares, but today covers almost double that. In the same period, a jetty head was built for tankers, separated from the onshore facilities. Kilometres of pipes were laid across the seabed and on shore. In 2003, the refinery had a workforce of around 200 and processed 25.3 million tons of crude oil, its highest output to date. The existence of this refinery testifies to the strong increase in the use of petroleum products, in the form of petrol for cars, for example, since World War II. The eternal flare is the refinery's landmark.

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Denmark as an oil and gas exporter

Story written by Henrik Harnow

Time / Periode 1963

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Many people are surprised to learn that Denmark is a oil and gas exporting nation – albeit a small one. In 1962, A.P. Møller, the Danish shipping company, was awarded a licence to extract oil and gas from the Danish sector of the North Sea. The Danish Underground Consortium's oil explorations resulted in a first find in 1966, although it was to have no commercial significance. But in 1969, Norway discovered large petroleum deposits close to the Danish sector, and exploration intensified. Eventually, the discovery of the Dan and Gorm fields in the early 1970s saw the start of the Danish oil adventure". In 1972, the first Danish petroleum was extracted from the Dan field in the North Sea. The Gorm field, Denmark's most costly industrial project to date, was exploited from 1981. "