The Norwegian Ministry of Energy has offered 19 companies interests in 57 production licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS).
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) said on 13 January that 20 of those licenses offered during the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2025 licensing round were for additional acreage for existing production licenses. In all, the ministry awarded 31 licenses for acreage in the North Sea, 21 in the Norwegian Sea, and five in the Barents Sea.
Several companies have submitted applications to conduct new assessments of discoveries with tight reservoirs, where production has so far been deemed unlikely, Kalmar Ildstad, NOD’s director of regulations, license, and area management, said in a release announcing the awards.
In September 2025, following the round’s application deadline, he said most of the companies active on the NCS had submitted applications for APA 2025, and that the applications confirmed considerable interest in exploration near existing fields and infrastructure.
Equinor, Aker BP, DNO Norge, and Vår Energi received the most offers, gaining interests in 35, 22, 17, and 14 licenses, respectively.
According to the ministry, 19 oil companies have been offered parts in one or more of these licenses, and 13 companies have been offered one or more operatorships.
The companies being offered licenses include (parts/operatorships):
- Aker BP ASA (22/12)
- Concedo AS (2/1)
- ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS (1/1)
- DNO Norge AS (17/4)
- Equinor Energy AS (35/17)
- Harbour Energy Norge AS (9/4)
- INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS (5/1)
- Japex Norge AS (2/0)
- Lime Petroleum AS (1/0)
- OKEA ASA (3/1)
- OMV (Norge) AS (4/2)
- Orlen Upstream Norway AS (6/0)
- Pandion Energy Norge AS (1/0)
- Petrolia NOCO AS (1/1)
- Repsol (2/2)
- Source Energy AS (2/0)
- TotalEnergies EP Norge AS (1/0)
- Vår Energi ASA (14/6)
- Wellesley Petroleum AS (5/5)
Equinor said in a news release that 21 of its awards are located in the North Sea, 10 in the Norwegian Sea, and four in the Barents Sea, with some being near existing infrastructure and some in new areas.
Jez Averty, Equinor’s senior vice president for NCS subsurface, said in the news release the awards results facilitate the company’s plans for a continued high level of activity within exploration.
Equinor, which will operate 17 of the 35 licenses, said it plans to drill from 20 to 30 exploration wells annually, of which 80% will be near existing infrastructure and 20% exploring new concepts and lesser-known areas. The company aims to develop from six to eight new subsea developments annually through 2035, which it called a significant increase from the current level.
“Access to new acreage is crucial for our ambition to maintain a high level of production and predictable energy deliveries to Europe from the NCS towards 2035. There is still a lot of energy left on the NCS, but we need new discoveries to curb the expected production decline. Phasing in oil and gas from new discoveries to existing infrastructure is a core task going forward,” Averty said.
Aker BP will operate 12 of the 22 licenses it has been offered, which are in all three seas and represent a mix of opportunities close to existing infrastructure and prospects in less-explored areas. The associated work programs include two committed exploration wells and extensive seismic data acquisition aimed at rapidly assessing the resource potential.
Aker BP will operate licenses for several material gas discoveries in tight reservoirs, including Victoria and Warka in the Norwegian Sea, and Norvarg and Ververis in the Barents Sea.
Petter Sørhaug, SVP for exploration and reservoir development at Aker BP, said in a release the awards support the company’s “long-term growth ambitions on the Norwegian continental shelf and provide a solid basis for pursuing a focused and value-driven exploration strategy.”
DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said in a release that the company had been awarded “significant interests in high-quality acreage, including operatorships, in DNO core areas.” Of the 17 new licenses, 15 are in the North Sea and two in the Norwegian Sea. DNO will serve as operator for four of the licenses.
The 14 licenses offered to Vår Energi include four licenses in the North Sea, six in the Norwegian Sea, and four in the Barents Sea, mostly close to existing infrastructure, the company said in a news release. Of the new licenses, Vår Energi will operate six.
“All awarded licenses support our long-term growth strategy and ensure continuity in maturing opportunities and creating value,” Torger Rød, Vår Energi COO, said in a news release.
The Norwegian Ministry of Energy initiated the annual APA licensing rounds in 2003 to facilitate the discovery and extraction of profitable resources in mature areas before existing infrastructure is shut down. Now, the annual APA rounds include the best-known exploration areas on the NCS that are not already licensed. The APA 2025 licensing round was announced on 9 May 2025 and application deadline was 2 September 2025.
