The Government hereby announces Awards in Predefined Areas 2006 (APA 2006).

- With the announcement of APA 2006 the industry gets access to extensive exploration acreage. There are a considerable number of blocks with prospective opportunities available for the industry in this year’s APA round, says Mr. Odd Roger Enoksen, Minister of Petroleum and Energy.

- It is important that the industry still has a high focus towards efficient utilization of existing infrastructure through the development of additional resources in mature parts of the Norwegian continental shelf, says Minister Enoksen.

Continuity and predictability in the framework conditions are important factors for the industry. The Government will therefore continue the system of Awards in Predefined Areas and announces an extensive APA-round.

A moderate expansion of 11 blocks is undertaken in APA 2006 compared with the acreage in APA 2005. The announcement of APA 2006 is still the third largest announcement since the 1. >licensing round in 1965 and comprises 192 blocks or part of blocks at the time of announcement. The industry gets access to extensive areas both in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea.

APA is now announced for the fourth time. The system with Awards in Predefined Areas was introduced for the first time in 2003. The APA awards take place in mature parts of the Norwegian continental shelf. The predefined areas shall be expanded as new areas mature for the petroleum activity, but the areas shall not be reduced.

The deadline for submission of applications is 12.00 a.m. on the 29. of September 2006. The award of production licences is planned to take place in December 2006.

Applications for participating interests in production licences may be submitted for the blocks not licensed within the predefined areas, which are marked out on the maps. It is also possible to apply for acreage that may be relinquished within the predefined areas before the submission deadline. Updated maps (the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's interactive fact maps) showing the available area

• Brochure in pdf format
• Maps in pdf format