21 oil & gas firms show ‘great faith’ in hydrocarbon exploration in Norwegian waters

While the global search for more oil and gas continues to run in the background in response to high demand and energy security concerns, 21 companies have submitted offers for production licenses, as part of the award in pre-defined areas 2024 (APA 2024) licensing round, to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, indicating their interest in further exploration activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

After the Ministry of Energy got applications from 21 companies in connection with the annual licensing round for the best-known exploration areas on the NCS that are not already licensed, which was announced on May 8, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) is now working to evaluate the applications in APA 2024, with emphasis on geological comprehension and plans for exploration of the areas.

“It’s gratifying to see the continued significant interest in exploring new acreage in mature areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), even in light of the many awards in recent APA rounds,” highlighted Kalmar Ildstad, Director of License Management at the Norwegian Offshore Directorate.

Once production licenses are awarded, emphasis is also placed on these firms’ technical expertise and experience, alongside financial strength to carry out the required work. Given the number of received applications by the deadline of September 3, the Norwegian authorities conclude that the interest in oil and gas exploration remains high on the NCS.

The APA 2024 round is said to comprise the majority of the available exploration areas, including the expansion into 34 blocks in the east of the Barents Sea and three additional ones in the northwest of the Norwegian Sea, compared to the APA 2023, which enabled Norway to offer 62 production licenses to 24 oil and gas companies. The awards of production licenses for the latest round are expected during the first quarter of 2025.

“We note that most of the companies that are active on the NCS have submitted applications in this year’s APA round, and the applications confirm considerable interest in exploration near existing fields and infrastructure,” emphasized NOD.

The list of companies that applied for the offered areas includes 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.

Terje Aasland, Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, commented: “It is very gratifying that the companies still have great faith in the opportunities that lie in further exploration on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. 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.”

Recently, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate warned that over $1.42 trillion (NOK 15 trillion) was at risk of being lost if Norway did nothing to step up its search for remaining hydrocarbon resources on the NCS and employ new technology to increase production levels.

A few days later, Equinor unveiled its investment game plan, which envisions annual injections of $5.7 – $6.6 billion into the Norwegian oil and gas ecosystem by 2035 to keep the daily production level at around 1.2 million barrels during the next ten years while halving emissions by 2030 in line with the Paris Agreement.

While the electrification projects in the implementation phase at the turn of the year will reduce C02 emissions by just under two million tons when they are completed, Norway’s state-owned energy giant claims to also have projects that are in the process of maturing, thus, they are yet to be decided.

“The fact that there is activity in so many municipalities illustrates how the oil and gas industry benefits the whole country. Europe is completely dependent on energy from the Norwegian Continental Shelf, so it is important to maintain production,” underscored Per Steinar Stamnes from Industri Energi on behalf of the five unions at Equinor: Industri Energi, SAFE, Lederne, NITO, and Tekna.