Denmark's DONG sees its 2009 gas output up 70 pct

* DONG aims to increase gas output by 70 pct in 2009

* EBITDA fell to 2.11 billion Danish crowns in Q2

* Higher output offset by lower oil, gas and power prices

By Teis Jensen

COPENHAGEN, Aug 11 (Reuters) - State-owned Danish oil, gas and electricity group DONG Energy [DONG.UL] expects to increase gas production by 70 percent this year, it said in its second-quarter earnings report on Tuesday.

DONG Energy's gas production doubled to 3.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in the second quarter from 1.9 million boe in the same quarter last year.

"We expect a 70 percent increase in our gas production in 2009," Chief executive Anders Eldrup said in the report.

DONG's Danish fields accounted for 22 percent of first-half production and its Norwegian fields for 78 percent, it said.

The increase in gas production came primarily from the Ormen Lange gas field off Norway, where new production wells came on stream in the fourth quarter of 2008, said DONG which has increasingly moved "upstream" to secure its own gas supplies.

"The Ormen Lange wells are performing better than what we had planned. So we have a significantly larger gas production than expected," Eldrup told Reuters.

DONG Energy has a 10.34 percent stake in Ormen Lange, Europe's third largest gas field, which is operated by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L). The other partners in the field are Norway's StatoilHydro (STL.OL) and Petoro, and U.S. supermajor ExxonMobil (XOM.N).

DONG Energy expects Ormen Lange, which exports gas to the UK, to reach full production in 2010 when its share of the field's output will be 2 billion cubic metres annually.

LOWER ENERGY PRICES HIT RESULTS

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to 2.11 billion Danish crowns ($401.5 million) in the second quarter from 3.47 in a year earlier "substantially due to the effects of timing differences in connection with the huge fluctuations in market prices for oil, gas and coal."

The company posted second quarter revenue of 13.16 billion crowns up from 12.74 billion crowns in the year-ago quarter.

The revenue increase reflected higher gas output from Ormen Lange, partly offset by significantly lower oil and gas prices and lower Danish power prices.

"Although the financial crisis has taken a firmer hold, with declining energy prices and energy consumption, we reaffirm our previous outlook for 2009," Eldrup said in the statement.

DONG stuck to its guidance for 2009 EBITDA and profit after tax to fall "significantly" from the 2008 levels of 13.6 billion in EBITDA and 4.8 billion for after-tax profits. (Additional reporting by Karin Jensen)