APA 2024: 53 new production licenses awarded

‘Continued development of the Norwegian continental shelf is important for employment, value creation, and the ripple effects of petroleum activites on the mainland going forward. We need new discoveries to ensure that Norway can remain a stable and predictable supplier of oil and gas to Europe. It is therefore very positive to see such great interest in new exploration areas’, said Minister of Energy, Terje Aasland.

Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) is an annual exploration round for the Norwegian continental shelf. It is conducted in accordance with a fixed annual cycle.

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 are offered parts in one or more of these licenses. 13 companies are offered one or more operatorships. A binding work program is linked to all the licenses. 

Background

Before licenses can be awarded for petroleum activities in an area on the Norwegian continental shelf, the area must be opened for petroleum operations. Production licenses can only be awarded in areas that are open and available for petroleum activities.

A production license gives the exclusive right to exploration, drilling, and extraction of petroleum within the geographical area of the license. Licenses are normally awarded through licensing rounds. The Ministry of Energy announces certain geographical areas where companies can apply for production licenses.

On the basis of the applications received, a production license is awarded a group of companies on the basis of objective, non-discriminatory and pre-announced criteria. The Ministry designates one operator for each production license.

The annual APA licensing rounds were introduced in 2003. The aim was to facilitate the discovery and extraction of profitable resources in mature areas, before existing infrastructure is shut down. The APA rounds occur annually and within a predefined area. This provides predictability to the companies about the areas available for application in the APA round, and facilitates regular replenishment of new exploration area to the companies. This is important for achieving effective exploration. Over time, the APA area is expanded, based on professional assessments of the areas' maturity, and the need for gradual exploration and utilization of time-critical resources. Today, the APA area covers most of the opened, available exploration areas on the Norwegian continental shelf.

The announcement of APA 2024, including the expansion of the APA area, was sent for public consultation with a deadline of 13 March 2024. The licensing round was announced 8 May, with an application deadline 3 September. By the deadline, the Ministry had received applications from 21 companies.

After the application deadline, the applications have been processed, resulting in the awards listed below. 

• More information can be found on the Norwegian Offshore Directorate’s website

The following companies have been offered parts in licences, or operatorships (parts/operatorships): 

A/S Norske Shell (1/1)

Aker BP ASA (19/16)

Concedo AS (3/0)

ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS(3/3)

DNO Norge AS (13/4)

Equinor Energy AS (27/7)

Harbour Energy Norge AS (4/3)

INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS (8/2)

Lime Petroleum AS (1/0)

M Vest Energy AS (2/0)

OKEA ASA (8/2)

OMV (Norge) AS (4/3)

Orlen Upstream Norway AS(8/0)

Pandion Energy Norge AS (3/0)

Petrolia NOCO AS (5/3)

Source Energy AS (1/0)

Sval Energi AS (7/2)

TotalEnergies EP Norge AS (2/0)

Vår Energi ASA (16/5)

Wellesley Petroleum AS (3/2)