Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has received applications from 25 oil and gas companies for production licences on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Aker BP, ConocoPhillips, Equinor, Harbour Energy, Neptune Energy, Repsol, Shell, TotalEnergies and Wintershall Dea are among the companies that have applied.

The applications were submitted as part of the awards in predefined areas (APA) 2023 licensing round, which was announced in May this year.

Beginning in 2024, Norway intends to grant new production licences in the specified areas – 14 blocks in the Norwegian Sea and 78 in the Barents Sea.

Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Terje Aasland, said: “Without exploration and new discoveries, we will neither be able to maintain the production of oil and gas over time or further develop the petroleum sector and all the jobs in the industry.

“That the oil companies are showing such great interest in the awarding of new production licences and exploration on the Norwegian Continental Shelf is therefore very good.”

According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), nearly all oil and gas companies operating on the Norwegian shelf have submitted applications in APA 2023.

With an emphasis on geological knowledge and plans for studying the areas, the NPD is now starting the process of reviewing the applications.

In January this year, Norway awarded 47 new offshore oil and gas exploration licences to 25 energy companies as part of APA 2022.