APA 2011 – Broad interest in mature areas on the Norwegian shelf

By the application deadline for Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) on the Norwegian continental shelf, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy had received applications from 43 companies. The Ministry plans to award new production licenses under APA 2011 in late 2011 or early 2012.

There has been broad interest in the APA system in recent years, with many new production licenses being awarded. This shows that mature areas on the Norwegian shelf continue to attract interest. The APA awards have given many new companies the opportunity to explore areas that have been available for exploration for several years.

“The Norwegian government wants to maintain the level of exploration activity. The most important policy instrument we have is to award new areas through licensing rounds. It is therefore pleasing to see that companies are showing interest in mature areas on the Norwegian continental shelf,” says Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe.

“Access to prospective acreage, together with interest from companies, is very important in order to sustain a stable level of activity and to secure future value creation and government revenues from the petroleum industry. The APA system is a vital means of ensuring the best possible exploitation of the mature parts of the continental shelf,” continues Mr Borten Moe.

The purpose of the APA system is to encourage exploration activity in mature areas. In most cases, these areas are expected to produce primarily smaller discoveries that do not justify independent development. Prudent resource management means discovering and developing these resources before existing infrastructure linked to other fields is closed down.

The companies that have applied for production licenses are: A/S Norske Shell, Agora Oil & Gas AS, Bayerngas Norge AS, BG Norge AS, Bridge Energy Norge AS, Centrica Resources Norge AS, Concedo ASA, ConocoPhillips Scandinavia AS, Dana Petroleum Norway AS, Det norske oljeselskap ASA, Dong E&P Norge AS, E.ON Ruhrgas Norge AS, Edison International SpA - Norway Branch, ENI Norge AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, Faroe Petroleum Norge AS, Fortis Petroleum Norway AS, Front Exploration AS, GDF SUEZ E&P Norge AS, Idemistu Petroleum Norge AS, LOTOS Exploration & Production Norge AS, Lundin Norway AS, Maersk Oil Norway AS, Marathon Petroleum Norge AS, Norske AEDC, North Energy ASA, Norwegian Energy Company ASA, OMV (Norge) AS, PGNiG Norway AS, Premier Oil Norge AS, Repsol Exploration Norge AS, Rocksource ASA, RWE-Dea Norge AS, Skagen44 AS, Spring Energy Norway AS, Statoil Petroleum AS, Svenska Petroleum Exploration AS, Suncor Energy Norge AS, Talisman Energy Norge A/S, TOTAL E&P NORGE AS, Valiant Petroleum Plc, VNG Norge AS and Wintershall Norge ASA.

The Norwegian government announced the APA 2011 on 11 March 2011. More information on the APA 2011 can be found in the press release of that date, which includes a map of the announced areas. You can also read more on the website of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.