High Interest in Continued Exploration Off Norway

There is high interest in continued exploration activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

That’s according to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, which announced Tuesday that it has offered 61 production licenses on the NCS as part of its Award in Pre-Defined Areas 2020 (APA 2020) licensing round.

Thirty-four of these licenses are located in the North Sea, with 24 in the Norwegian Sea and three in the Barents Sea. Thirty different oil companies, ranging from large international companies to smaller domestic exploration companies, were offered ownership interests in one or more production licenses, the ministry highlighted.

“I am pleased to offer 61 new production licenses in this year’s APA round to a diverse range of companies,” Tina Bru, the minister of petroleum and energy, said in a government statement.

“These companies have shown great interest in gaining access to new exploration acreage, illustrating the industry's confidence in continued profitability from exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf. This is good news for the Norwegian state as resource owner,” Bru added.

“Exploration providing additional discoveries is vital in order to maintain a high level of activity, employment and revenue over time from Norway's largest industry. I am impressed by how the industry has dealt with the challenges of 2020 , also when it comes to the applications for new acreage. I now eagerly await the commencement of activity and the resulting discoveries,” the energy minister went on to say.

The first licensing round on the NCS took place back in 1965. The petroleum industry is Norway’s largest sector in terms of value-creation, state revenue, investment and export-value, according to the ministry, which noted that the industry has a significant share of national employment, directly or indirectly, and contributes to activity across the country.

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