Wednesday 16 January 2019

On 15 January, 33 companies were offered ownership interests in a total of 83 production licences on the Norwegian Shelf in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2018. This is the largest number ever awarded in one licensing round.

Of the 83 production licences, 37 are in the North Sea, 32 in the Norwegian Sea and 14 in the Barents Sea. Eighteen of the licences are additional acreage to existing production licences.

The authorities have awarded acreage in the expanded APA area, both in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea.

“The number of awards shows that the companies believe that more resources remain to be found in areas with known geology and near existing infrastructure. It is important that these resources are discovered while we still have infrastructure such as platforms and pipelines nearby – then even small discoveries can be developed profitably. One reason why the companies still find it attractive to explore in mature areas could be that large parts of the Shelf are now covered by new and improved seismic data, which together with new technology enable the companies to identify new exploration targets,” says exploration director Torgeir Stordal in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

There is great diversity in the player landscape in this APA award, both small companies and large international companies are being offered exploration acreage. Of the 38 companies that applied (this number does not include Petoro), 33 are being offered ownership interests in at least one production licence.