Norway has offered 28 companies ownership interests in a total of 53 offshore oil and gas production licences 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 authorities assessed applications from a total of 31 companies during autumn 2021, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said Tuesday.
Of the 53 production licenses, 28 are in the North Sea, 20 are in the Norwegian Sea and 5 are in the Barents Sea. NPD said that 17 of the production licenses were additional acreage to existing production licenses.
Kalmar Ildstad, the NPD’s Director for licence management said: "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. 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 said that this year’s awards show that there is 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 develop the Norwegian petroleum industry further," says Minister of Petroleum and Energy Marte Mjøs Persen.
"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," says Mjøs Persen.
Offers are given to the following companies (shares/operatorships):
Aker BP (15/7)
A/S Norske Shell (2/1)
Chrysaor (4/1)
Concedo (3/0)
ConocoPhillips (3/3)
DNO (10/3)
Equinor (26/12)
Idemitsu (3/0)
KUFPEC (1/0)
Longboat (1/0)
LOTOS (4/0)
Lundin (10/5)
M Vest (2/0)
Neptune (2/2)
OKEA (4/3)
OMV (3/1)
ONE-Dyas (3/0)
Pandion (3/0)
Petrolia NOCO (2/0)
PGNiG (4/3)
Source (2/0)
Spirit (7/2)
Suncor (2/0)
Sval (3/0)
TotalEnergies (1/0)
Vår Energi (10/5)
Wellesley (3/1)
Wintershall Dea (7/4)