Norway Offers New Offshore Licenses To 28 Oil Firms

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has offered 28 companies ownership interests in a total of 53 offshore oil and gas production licenses on the Norwegian Shelf in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2021.

Awards in predefined areas (APA) is an annual exploration round in the most mature areas on the Norwegian shelf.

The 53 production licenses offered in this year's round are distributed over the North Sea – 28, the Norwegian Sea – 20, and the Barents Sea – 5.

A total of 28 different oil companies, from large international companies to smaller Norwegian exploration companies, are offered shares in one or more of these licenses while 15 companies are offered one or more operatorships.

According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), 17 production licenses were additional acreage to existing production licenses. It is worth noting that the authorities assessed applications from a total of 31 companies during autumn 2021.

"It’s gratifying that the companies continue to have strong convictions that there is more to be discovered in areas with known geology, and in close proximity to existing infrastructure,” Kalmar Ildstad, the NPD’s Director for license management, said. “It’s important to prove these resources so that available capacity on already-established process facilities and pipeline systems can be exploited. This means that even small discoveries can create considerable value."

NPD stated that this year’s awards revealed that there was still great diversity among the players, with a good mix of small and medium-sized companies alongside major international players.

"The petroleum industry contributes with large revenues, value creation, and jobs across the country. I am therefore happy to offer 53 new production licenses in the predefined areas. Further exploration activity and new discoveries are crucial to developing the Norwegian petroleum industry further," Minister of Petroleum and Energy Marte Mjøs Persen, claimed.

"Awards of productions licenses is a mainstay in facilitating a stable level of activity on the continental shelf. This award is an important contribution to maintain future exploration activity and to make new, profitable discoveries," Persen concluded.

The company with the most offers was Norwegian giant Equinor with 12 operatorships and 26 share offers. Other sizeable offers were given to Aker BP, Lundin, Var Energi, and Wintershal Dea.

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