The Norwegian Ministry of Energy has offered 53 new production licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) is an annual exploration round for the Norwegian continental shelf. Of the 53 production licenses offered in APA 2024, 33 are located in the North Sea, 19 in the Norwegian Sea, and one in the Barents Sea.
In total, 20 oil companies were offered parts in one or more of these licenses. The companies (parts/operatorships) are: A/S Norske Shell (1/1), Aker BP (19/16), Concedo (3/0), ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (3/3), DNO Norge (13/4), Equinor Energy (27/7), Harbour Energy Norge (4/3), INPEX Idemitsu Norge (8/2), Lime Petroleum (1/0), M Vest Energy (2/0), OKEA (8/2), OMV (Norge) (4/3), Orlen Upstream Norway (8/0), Pandion Energy Norge (3/0), Petrolia NOCO (5/3), Source Energy (1/0), Sval Energi (7/2), TotalEnergies EP Norge (2/0), Vår Energi (16/5) and Wellesley Petroleum (3/2).
Equinor’s 27 new production licenses include 20 licenses in the North Sea, six in the Norwegian Sea and one in the Barents Sea.
"There are still substantial resources on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Together with our partners, we need to explore more to contribute to European energy security and maintain our position as a reliable supplier of oil and gas. The annual award of pre-defined areas is crucial to ensure high export levels over time. We will continue to make robust investments, and our ambition is to drill around 250 exploration wells by 2035. In order to do this, we need regular access to acreage," says Jez Averty, Equinor's senior vice president for subsurface, the Norwegian continental shelf.
Equinor operates 35 offshore platforms that together make up an extensive network of amortized production, processing and export infrastructure.
"We have a significant portfolio of smaller discoveries near existing infrastructure. We're working alongside the supplier industry to accelerate developments and reduce costs, which will ensure that several of these discoveries can come on stream even earlier. One good example is Eirin, which will be tied back to Gina Krog. This development was approved in January 2024, and we expect production to start in the end of 2025. The gas from Eirin will have very low production emissions, since the Gina Krog platform is electrified. Moreover, it will extend Gina Krog's lifetime by seven years," Averty continues.
For discoveries that require new development solutions, Equinor will prioritize solutions that yield low emissions.
Aker BP was offered licenses in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. West of Yggdrasil, Aker BP was offered operatorship on the former Frigg field, where the partnership plans to drill an exploration well already in Q2 2025.
“We are very pleased with the award that was announced today. It reflects a comprehensive application and gives us a foundation for maintaining our growth ambition on the Norwegian continental shelf and our ambitious exploration strategy. Phasing in oil and gas from new discoveries will be crucial to ensuring long-term activity on the shelf,” says Per Øyvind Seljebotn, SVP Exploration and Reservoir Development in Aker BP.
“Although the shelf is maturing, we manage to continuously identify new opportunities. Leveraging new technology, digitalization and investments in new data are crucial for creating good exploration opportunities for many years to come and ensuring growth and innovation in our sector. Our strategy is to have a portfolio of exploration licenses that provides a good balance between exploration wells near existing fields and infrastructure, and wells that, if successful, can form the basis for standalone developments.”
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