diff --git a/src/ert/config/analysis_config.py b/src/ert/config/analysis_config.py
index 6c8fbc8aa56..1a5304549a8 100644
--- a/src/ert/config/analysis_config.py
+++ b/src/ert/config/analysis_config.py
@@ -16,12 +16,14 @@
     ConfigKeys,
     ConfigValidationError,
     ConfigWarning,
+    ErrorInfo,
 )
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 DEFAULT_ANALYSIS_MODE = AnalysisMode.ENSEMBLE_SMOOTHER
 ObservationGroups = List[str]
+from ._option_dict import option_dict
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -31,6 +33,45 @@ class UpdateSettings:
     auto_scale_observations: List[ObservationGroups] = field(default_factory=list)
 
 
+@dataclass
+class DesignMatrixArgs:
+    xls_filename: Path
+    designsheet: str
+    defaultsheet: str
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_config_list(cls, config_list: List[str]) -> "DesignMatrixArgs":
+        filename = Path(config_list[0])
+        options = option_dict(config_list, 1)
+        design_sheet = options.get("DESIGN_SHEET")
+        default_sheet = options.get("DEFAULT_SHEET")
+        errors = []
+        if filename.suffix not in {
+            ".xlsx",
+            ".xls",
+        }:
+            errors.append(
+                ErrorInfo(
+                    f"DESIGN_MATRIX must be of format .xls or .xslx; is {filename}"
+                ).set_context(config_list)
+            )
+        if design_sheet is None:
+            errors.append(
+                ErrorInfo("Missing required DESIGN_SHEET").set_context(config_list)
+            )
+        if default_sheet is None:
+            errors.append(
+                ErrorInfo("Missing required DEFAULT_SHEET").set_context(config_list)
+            )
+        if errors:
+            raise ConfigValidationError.from_collected(errors)
+        return cls(
+            xls_filename=filename,
+            designsheet=design_sheet,
+            defaultsheet=default_sheet,
+        )
+
+
 @dataclass
 class AnalysisConfig:
     max_runtime: Optional[int] = None
@@ -40,6 +81,7 @@ class AnalysisConfig:
     ies_module: IESSettings = field(default_factory=IESSettings)
     observation_settings: UpdateSettings = field(default_factory=UpdateSettings)
     num_iterations: int = 1
+    design_matrix_args: Optional[DesignMatrixArgs] = None
 
     @no_type_check
     @classmethod
@@ -78,6 +120,9 @@ def from_dict(cls, config_dict: ConfigDict) -> "AnalysisConfig":
             )
 
         min_realization = min(min_realization, num_realization)
+
+        design_matrix_config_list = config_dict.get(ConfigKeys.DESIGN_MATRIX, None)
+
         options: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]] = {"STD_ENKF": {}, "IES_ENKF": {}}
         observation_settings: Dict[str, Any] = {
             "alpha": config_dict.get(ConfigKeys.ENKF_ALPHA, 3.0),
@@ -189,6 +234,11 @@ def from_dict(cls, config_dict: ConfigDict) -> "AnalysisConfig":
             observation_settings=obs_settings,
             es_module=es_settings,
             ies_module=ies_settings,
+            design_matrix_args=DesignMatrixArgs.from_config_list(
+                design_matrix_config_list
+            )
+            if design_matrix_config_list is not None
+            else None,
         )
         return config
 
diff --git a/src/ert/config/parsing/config_keywords.py b/src/ert/config/parsing/config_keywords.py
index d9aefd291e2..956216b7c5f 100644
--- a/src/ert/config/parsing/config_keywords.py
+++ b/src/ert/config/parsing/config_keywords.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ class ConfigKeys(StrEnum):
     JOB_SCRIPT = "JOB_SCRIPT"
     JOBNAME = "JOBNAME"
     MAX_SUBMIT = "MAX_SUBMIT"
+    DESIGN_MATRIX = "DESIGN_MATRIX"
     NUM_REALIZATIONS = "NUM_REALIZATIONS"
     MIN_REALIZATIONS = "MIN_REALIZATIONS"
     OBS_CONFIG = "OBS_CONFIG"
diff --git a/src/ert/config/parsing/config_schema.py b/src/ert/config/parsing/config_schema.py
index 6d5d7ecbcbe..6adba3c9cba 100644
--- a/src/ert/config/parsing/config_schema.py
+++ b/src/ert/config/parsing/config_schema.py
@@ -261,6 +261,20 @@ def install_job_directory_keyword() -> SchemaItem:
     )
 
 
+def design_matrix_keyword() -> SchemaItem:
+    return SchemaItem(
+        kw=ConfigKeys.DESIGN_MATRIX,
+        argc_min=3,
+        argc_max=3,
+        type_map=[
+            SchemaItemType.EXISTING_PATH,
+            SchemaItemType.STRING,
+            SchemaItemType.STRING,
+        ],
+        multi_occurrence=False,
+    )
+
+
 class ConfigSchemaDict(SchemaItemDict):
     def check_required(
         self,
@@ -345,6 +359,7 @@ def init_user_config_schema() -> ConfigSchemaDict:
         positive_int_keyword(ConfigKeys.NUM_CPU),
         positive_int_keyword(ConfigKeys.MAX_RUNNING),
         string_keyword(ConfigKeys.REALIZATION_MEMORY),
+        design_matrix_keyword(),
         queue_system_keyword(False),
         queue_option_keyword(),
         job_script_keyword(),
diff --git a/tests/ert/unit_tests/config/test_analysis_config.py b/tests/ert/unit_tests/config/test_analysis_config.py
index 3c594d73771..ed4126e5556 100644
--- a/tests/ert/unit_tests/config/test_analysis_config.py
+++ b/tests/ert/unit_tests/config/test_analysis_config.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ def test_analysis_config_from_file_is_same_as_from_dict():
                 NUM_REALIZATIONS 10
                 MIN_REALIZATIONS 10
                 ANALYSIS_SET_VAR STD_ENKF ENKF_TRUNCATION 0.8
+                DESIGN_MATRIX my_design_matrix.xlsx DESIGN_SHEET:my_sheet DEFAULT_SHEET:my_default_sheet
                 """
         )
     ).analysis_config == AnalysisConfig.from_dict(
@@ -30,6 +31,11 @@ def test_analysis_config_from_file_is_same_as_from_dict():
             ConfigKeys.ANALYSIS_SET_VAR: [
                 ("STD_ENKF", "ENKF_TRUNCATION", 0.8),
             ],
+            ConfigKeys.DESIGN_MATRIX: [
+                "my_design_matrix.xlsx"
+                "DESIGN_SHEET:my_sheet"
+                "DEFAULT_SHEET:my_default_sheet"
+            ],
         }
     )
 
@@ -80,6 +86,23 @@ def test_invalid_min_realization_raises_config_validation_error():
         )
 
 
+def test_invalid_design_matrix_format_raises_validation_error():
+    with pytest.raises(
+        ConfigValidationError,
+        match="DESIGN_MATRIX must be of format .xls or .xslx; is 'my_matrix.txt'",
+    ):
+        AnalysisConfig.from_dict(
+            {
+                ConfigKeys.NUM_REALIZATIONS: 1,
+                ConfigKeys.DESIGN_MATRIX: [
+                    "my_matrix.txt",
+                    "DESIGN_SHEET:sheet1",
+                    "DEFAULT_SHEET:sheet2",
+                ],
+            }
+        )
+
+
 def test_invalid_min_realization_percentage_raises_config_validation_error():
     with pytest.raises(
         ConfigValidationError,