Many of the awards will support exploration close to existing offshore infrastructure. Others could open up new plays or development of technically demanding discoveries. Successful bidders include Equinor, Aker BP, Var Energi, OKEA and DNO, among others.
Equinor has been awarded 35 new production licenses by the Ministry of Energy in the most recent APA round.
Norway’s Ministry of Energy has offered 57 new production licenses across the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea to 19 companies under the country’s APA 2025 licensing round.
Terje Aasland, Energy Minister, said: “Norway is Europe’s most important energy supplier, but in a few years, production will begin to decline. Therefore, we need new projects that can slow the decline and deliver as much production as possible.”
The annual Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) exploration round covers much of the already opened, available acreage on the Norwegian continental shelf.
