The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy said Tuesday it had received applications from 26 oil and gas companies in connection with APA (Awards in predefined areas) annual offshore acreage licensing rounds.
Shell, Equinor, Inpex, TotalEnergies, and ConocoPhillips are among the companies which applied. (Full list below)
"We need exploration and new discoveries to maintain the production of oil and gas over time, which is important both for Norway and Europe. The applications in TFO 2022 show very good interest among the companies active on the Norwegian continental shelf in exploring for new petroleum resources. This is very pleasant, says Minister of Petroleum and Energy," Terje Aasland said.
Awards in predefined areas (APA) is the annual licensing round for the best-known exploration areas on the Norwegian shelf. It comprises the majority of the available exploration areas.
By the application deadline of12th September, the Ministry had received applications from a total of 26 companies. The Ministry does not publish the total number of applications because of competitive considerations.
The APA area is being expanded as geological knowledge in areas on the Norwegian shelf increases. In this year's licensing round, the predefined area was expanded in the Barents Sea. The aim is to award new production licenses in the announced areas at the beginning of 2023, the Ministry said.
List of companies that have applied:
A/S Norske Shell
Aker BP ASA
Chrysaor Norge AS
Concedo AS
ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS
DNO Norge AS
Equinor Energy AS
INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS
KUFPEC Norway AS
Lime Petroleum AS
Longboat Energy Norge AS
LOTOS Exploration and Production Norge AS
M Vest Energy AS
Neptune Energy Norge AS
OKEA ASA
OMV (Norge) AS
Pandion Energy AS
Pandion Energy Norge AS
Petrolia NOCO AS
Source Energy AS
PGNiG Upstream Norway AS
Sval Energi AS
TotalEnergies EP Norge AS
Vår Energi ASA
Wellesley Petroleum AS
Wintershall Dea Norge AS