The goal is to grant new production licences in the announced areas in early 2025. Credit: Lukasz Z/Shutterstock.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has announced that 21 companies have submitted applications for production licences as part of the Award in Pre-defined Areas 2024 (APA 2024) licensing round.  

APA, an annual event, targets well-known exploration areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) not currently licensed, with the majority of available exploration areas included. 

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Announced in May 2024, APA 2024 saw the expansion of acreage by a total of 37 blocks in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea.  

The expansion reflects the increasing geological knowledge of areas on the NCS. 

The NOD highlighted the interest from companies in exploration near existing fields and infrastructure.  

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The regulator is now assessing the applications, focusing on geological understanding and exploration plans. 

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When awarding production licenses, the NOD will also consider the applicants’ technical expertise, experience and financial capacity.  

The goal is to grant new production licences in the announced areas in early 2025. 

The companies that applied for the offered areas include Aker BP, Concedo, ConocoPhillips Skandinavia, DNO Norge, Equinor Energy, Inpex Idemitsu Norge, Lime Petroleum, M Vest Energy and Norske Shell. 

Others that participated include OKEA, OMV (Norge), Pandion Energy, Petrolia NOCO, PGNiG Upstream Norway, Repsol Norge, Source Energy, Sval Energi, TotalEnergies EP Norge, Vår Energi, Wellesley Petroleum and Wintershall Dea Norge. 

Norway Minister of Energy Terje Aasland said: “It is very gratifying that the companies still have great faith in the opportunities that lie in further exploration on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Exploration and new discoveries are crucial to slowing the expected fall in production in the 2030s.  

“That we succeed in identifying and developing new fields is not only important for employment, value creation and government income here at home. It is also important for energy security in Europe.” 

In a recent resource report, the NOD urged the nation’s oil and gas companies to boost their exploration and production investments to mitigate the expected decline in output over the coming years.  

The future of Norway’s production relies on the industry’s adoption of new technologies and exploration of underdeveloped areas, particularly the Barents Sea in the far north of the country.