Norway’s Ministry of Energy received applications from 21 companies in connection with the announcement of awards in predefined areas (APA), the annual license round for the best-known exploration areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. It comprises most of the available exploration areas.
APA 2024 was announced 8 May 2024 with an application deadline of 3 September. The Ministry does not publish the total number of applications due to competitive considerations.
Since APA 2023, the predefined areas (APA acreage) have been expanded by 34 blocks in the Barents Sea and three blocks in the Norwegian Sea. Applications could be submitted for all available blocks or parts of blocks within the predefined areas. The aim is to award new production licenses in the announced areas at the beginning of 2025.
“It is very gratifying that the companies still have great faith in the opportunities that lie in further exploration on the Norwegian Continental Shelf,” said Minister of Energy Terje Aasland. “Exploration and new discoveries are crucial to slowing the expected fall in production in the 2030s. That we succeed in identifying and developing new fields is not only important for employment, value creation, and government income here at home. It is also important for energy security in Europe.”
Companies that submitted applications include Norske Shell, Aker BP, Concedo, ConocoPhillips Skandinavia, DNO Norge, Equinor Energy, INPEX Idemitsu Norge, Lime Petroleum, M Vest Energy, OKEA, OMV (Norge), Pandion Energy, Petrolia NOCO, PGNiG Upstream Norway, Repsol Norge, Source Energy, Sval Energi, TotalEnergies EP Norge, Vår Energi, Wellesley Petroleum, and Wintershall Dea Norge.
The annual licensing rounds APA were introduced in 2003. The aim was to facilitate the identification and extraction of profitable resources in mature areas before existing infrastructure shuts down. The licensing rounds give companies predictability about the available areas to apply for in the APA. Over time, the APA area is expanded based on petroleum professional assessments of the areas’ maturity, and in particular the need for step-by-step exploration and utilization of time-critical resources.
