At the deadline for application to the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2005, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy received application from 29 companies. The Ministry aims to award new production licenses in APA 2005 in December 2005.

- The extensive interest in mature areas of the Norwegian continental shelf continues. This year almost twice as many companies have applied compared to two years ago. It is encouraging to see that many of the newly established companies on the NCS have submitted applications in APA 2005. At the same time it is still a substantial interest for mature acreage on the NCS from the larger and established companies on the NCS, says Thorhild Widvey, Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy.

- During our four year term, the Government have had a high focus on securing the industry access to prospective acreage on the NCS. It is important to continue this focus in the coming years, by announcing blocks and awarding production licenses in mature parts of the NCS, concludes Minister Widvey.

The companies that have submitted applications are the following:
Altinex Oil AS, A/S Norske Shell, BG Norge AS, ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS, DNO AS, DONG Norge AS, Endeavour Energy Norge AS, Ener Petroleum ASA, Eni Norge AS, E. ON Ruhrgas Norge AS, Esso Norge AS, Gaz de France Norge AS, Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS, Lundin Norway AS, Maersk Oil Norway AS, Marathon Petroleum Norge AS, Norsk Hydro Produksjon a.s, Norwegian Energy Company AS (NORECO), Paladin Resources Norge AS, Pertra AS, Petro-Canada UK Limited, Premier Oil Norge AS, Revus Energy AS, RWE Dea Norge AS, Statoil ASA, Svenska Petroleum Exploration Norge AS, Talisman Energy Norge AS, Total E & P Norge AS and Wintershall Norge AS.

Background:

• In 2003 the Government introduced the system of Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) in mature parts of the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). This system replaced the annual North Sea Awards.
• Today the predefined areas cover acreage in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea.
• The APA-system ensures that very large areas close to existing and planned infrastructure are available for the industry in the years to come. This will contribute to efficient use of production and transportation installations on the NCS.
• The APA-system gives new and smaller players on the NCS opportunities to build up their exploration portfolio.
• The APA area shall be expanded as new areas mature, but the area shall not be reduced.
• Next announcement of the APA is planned in January 2006.

Announced blocks or parts of blocks in the APA-rounds:
2003 – 143 blocks
2004 – 151 blocks
2005 – 192 blocks

Number of companies that submitted applications:
2003 – 16 companies
2004 – 22 companies
2005 – 29 companies

More information about APA 2005 can be found in the press release of 31 January 2005
This also contains maps of the APA 2005 announcement.