COPENHAGEN, March 9 (Reuters) - Danish utility DONG has hired JP Morgan as an adviser to investigate a possible initial public offering (IPO), it said on Monday, adding that it aims to make a decision on the process in the second half of this year.

The company, which also operates wind farms, said it would not comment on media reports late last week that it would spin off its oil and gas production business before an IPO.

The Danish government sold an 18 percent stake of DONG to investors led by Goldman Sachs last year, with an understanding that the company would be listed. Analysts had expected a listing to take place between 2017 and 2018.

The Danish stock exchange last week welcomed its first major IPO for a year when Novo Nordisk's IT business NNIT listed and its shares soared.

But some investors may still be shy of Danish IPOs after the spectacular failure of ship fuel supplier OW Bunker, which filed for bankruptcy last November, eight months after its stock market debut.

(Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki and Alexander Tange; Editing by David Goodman)