Dana pumps $44m into southern North Sea licences

Aberdeen-based oil and gas explorer Dana Petroleum has spent $44 million (£27m) on a share of two licences in the Danish and German sectors of the southern North Sea.

The firm, which was bought by Korea National Oil Corporation for £1.87 billion in 2010, said both licences were near existing Dana-operated assets in the Netherlands.

Acting chief executive Graham Scotton, who took up the post last month after previous boss Marcus Richards quit, said: “Dana’s strategy is to significantly grow our production.

“This acquisition gives us the ability to do that by building a new central European hub based on having operations in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.”

Dana has bought the 40 per cent stake in the Danish licence, and a 56 per cent interest in the German licence, from Swedish firm PA Resources.