The objective of the Exploration activity to explore for and prove undiscovered, commercial deposits on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, and to maintain a balanced portfolio of commercially attractive prospects which supports DONG Energy's business activities in the short as well as the long term. We strive continuously to optimise our exploration portfolio and create a good balance between financial exposure and expected return from our investments.

The activities include:

•  proving areas which can be characterised as promising as regards discovering commercial deposits in line with DONG Energy's strategic assessments
• obtaining new seismic, geological and other relevant data for the most promising areas; 
• performing detailed interpretation of seismic and geological data for areas with potential oil and gas traps (prospects); 
• applying to Norwegian authorities through ordinary as well as extraordinary license rounds for exploration and production licenses for prospects which can support/meet with DONG Energy's commercial requirements; 
• responsibility for operatorships of licenses in the exploration phase, which includes drilling of the most attractive prospects in the portfolio; 
• protecting DONG Energy's technical and commercial interests in partner-operated licenses, aiming to safeguard values and resources in the best possible way.

Evaluation of new discoveries
Exploration is responsible for evaluating new discovered deposits, until it is likely that the deposits can be developed into a commercial field. At that time, DONG Energy in Norway's Assets departments will take over responsibility for further planning, development and production of the deposit.