‘Great’ oil & gas exploration appetite bears fruit as Norway awards 53 new production licenses

As part of the award in the pre-defined areas 2024 (APA 2024) round, Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has offered 53 production licenses to 20 oil and gas companies for further hydrocarbon exploration activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). This represents a drop compared to the previous licensing round when 24 players got 62 production licenses.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy confirmed the submission of applications from 21 companies a few months ago in connection with APA 2024, which was launched in May 2024. The aim was to award new production licenses in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea at the beginning of 2025.

The APA 2024 round, encompassing the majority of the available exploration areas, included the expansion into 34 blocks in the east of the Barents Sea and three additional ones in the northwest of the Norwegian Sea.

After reviewing submissions, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) confirmed that 20 companies secured ownership interest offers in 53 production licenses. The biggest slice of the licensing award cake has gone to the North Sea with 33 licenses within its offshore acreage, followed by 19 in the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea bringing up the rear with just one license.

This time 20 of these production licenses are additional acreage for existing production areas. However, these awards show a decrease in the number of players seeking to expand portfolios with new licenses and the licensing activity compared to the APA 2023 round, which enabled Norway to offer 62 production licenses to 24 oil and gas companies off the coast of Norway.

Kalmar Ildstad, Director Licence Management at the NOD, commented: “This year’s awards show that the companies on the NCS are still very confident in their ability to make more discoveries near existing oil and gas infrastructure. This is important for further value creation.”

The list of oil and gas players that secured parts in licenses or operatorships offers includes Norske Shell (1/1), Aker BP (19/16), Concedo (3/0), ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (3/3), DNO Norge (13/4), Equinor Energy (27/7), Harbour Energy Norge (4/3), INPEX Idemitsu Norge (8/2), Lime Petroleum (1/0), M Vest Energy (2/0), OKEA (8/2), OMV (Norge) (4/3), Orlen Upstream Norway (8/0), Pandion Energy Norge (3/0), Petrolia NOCO (5/3), Source Energy (1/0), Sval Energi (7/2), TotalEnergies EP Norge (2/0), Vår Energi (16/5), and Wellesley Petroleum (3/2).

Terje Aasland, Norway’s Minister of Energy, highlighted: “Continued development of the Norwegian Continental Shelf is important for employment, value creation, and the ripple effects of petroleum activites on the mainland going forward. We need new discoveries to ensure that Norway can remain a stable and predictable supplier of oil and gas to Europe. It is therefore very positive to see such great interest in new exploration areas.”

The Norwegian Ministry of Energy underlines that 13 among the 20 companies received one or more operator roles, with a binding work program linked to all the licenses. The Norwegian Offshore Directorate warned last year that more than $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 emerging technology to ramp up production levels.

These awards follow the Norwegian state-owned energy giant’s 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.

The company’s 27 new production licenses are spread across the Norwegian Continental Shelf, with the largest chunk, encapsulating 20 licenses, in the North Sea, six in the Norwegian Sea, and one in the Barents Sea. While Equinor is a partner in 20 of these licenses, it has also won the operator role in seven.

Jez Averty, Equinor’s Senior Vice President for Subsurface at the NCS, pointed out: “There are still substantial resources on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). Together with our partners, we need to explore more to contribute to European energy security and maintain our position as a reliable supplier of oil and gas.

“The annual award of pre-defined areas is crucial to ensure high export levels over time. We will continue to make robust investments, and our ambition is to drill around 250 exploration wells by 2035. In order to do this, we need regular access to acreage.”

Currently, the company operates 35 offshore platforms that make up an extensive network of amortized production, processing, and export infrastructure. According to Equinor, discoveries in areas with existing infrastructure can be developed rapidly, at lower costs, and with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from production and transport.

Averty emphasized: “We have a significant portfolio of smaller discoveries near existing infrastructure. We’re working alongside the supplier industry to accelerate developments and reduce costs, which will ensure that several of these discoveries can come on stream even earlier. One good example is Eirin, which will be tied back to Gina Krog.

“This development was approved in January 2024, and we expect production to start in the end of 2025. The gas from Eirin will have very low production emissions, since the Gina Krog platform is electrified. Moreover, it will extend Gina Krog’s lifetime by seven years.”

Equinor intends to prioritize solutions that yield low emissions for discoveries that require new development solutions. The firm operates or participates in 20-30 exploration wells on the NCS annually, with about 80% near existing infrastructure and in known geology. The remaining 20% are seen as new ideas matured based on continuous development in offshore geology knowledge databases.

“Despite most exploration wells being drilled near existing infrastructure, it is important that we also explore new areas and new ideas and concepts with the potential for more major discoveries. Our confidence in the Norwegian shelf remains strong and we are prepared to take steps to secure the future energy supply,” underscored Averty.

While explaining that existing fields are being depleted and produce less oil and gas over time, Equinor put an emphasis on the key role the search for new hydrocarbons plays in meeting customers’ demands. The Norwegian giant underlines the need for additional wells each year to uncover the remaining resources, as the number of barrels per well is far lower than in the 80s.

“Even as we move towards a net-zero future, the world still needs predictable, reliable, and stable energy supplies. Exploration is key to ensuring continuity in this regard,” concluded Equinor.

DNO’s wholly-owned subsidiary DNO Norge has secured participation in 13 exploration licenses, of which four are operatorships under Norway’s APA 2024 licensing round. Aside from ten new licenses in the North Sea, the firm also won three in the Norwegian Sea. DNO held interests in 84 licenses, including 17 where the firm acted as the operator in 2024.

On the other hand, OKEA, which confirmed offers in eight new production licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and two operator awards claims these awards further strengthen its portfolio of near-field exploration opportunities around the Draugen, Gjøa, Brage, and Ivar Aasen production hubs.

Ida Lundh, OKEA’s SVP Subsurface, stated: “The award demonstrates OKEA’s ambition of building a robust portfolio of opportunities, being an active explorer in our core areas. The award further strengthens OKEA’s position close to existing hubs. We will continue to seek organic growth opportunities both in terms of potential new discoveries and pursue new developments nearby OKEA’s infrastructure.”

The company, which now holds interests in 21 exploration-focused licenses, elaborates that the PL 1266 and PL 1252 operated licenses are located close to the Draugen field in the Norwegian Sea and the Brage field in the North Sea.

Vår Energi has disclosed the award of 16 new production licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, including the five where it got assigned the operator role in the APA 2024, covering nine in the North Sea, six in the Norwegian Sea, and one in the Barents Sea. Since most of the licenses are close to existing infrastructure, the firm underlines that this supports its hub strategy.

Nick Walker, CEO of Vår Energi, explained:“I am pleased that our work to secure new and attractive exploration opportunities, including in our core hub areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf have been rewarded by the Ministry of Energy. Vår Energi is a leading explorer on the NCS with an exploration success rate of about 50% over the last five years.

“We are increasing our exploration activity in the coming years and plan to drill around 20 exploration wells this year. Access to new acreage is important for continuity in our exploration activities and for sustaining production through existing infrastructure.”

The company is adamant that access to exploration acreage and a predictable licensing policy is key to securing further investments, activities, and value creation on the NCS. Vår Energi, which plans to cut emissions from its operations by more than half within 2030, has around 1,400 employees and equity stakes in 42 producing fields.

Aker BP has received the award of shares in 19 production licenses in Norwegian waters, of which 16 come with the operator role attached. The firm’s new licenses are located in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.

Per Øyvind Seljebotn, Director of Exploration and Reservoir Development at Aker BP, said: “We are very pleased with the award. It is a major award that reflects our growth ambitions on the Norwegian shelf. This award gives us a good basis to maintain an ambitious exploration strategy.

“Phasing in oil and gas from new discoveries will be crucial to ensuring long-term activity on the shelf. Although the shelf is starting to mature, we are constantly identifying new opportunities.”

The company got the operator role on the former Frigg field west of Yggdrasil, where the partnership plans to drill an exploration well as early as Q2 2025. Aker BP is the operator of Alvheim, Edvard Grieg, Ivar Aasen, Skarv, Valhall, Hod, Ula, and Tambar. In addition, the firm is also Equinor’s partner in the Johan Sverdrup field. 

Seljebotn outlined: “New technology, digitalization and investment in new data are the foundation for creating good exploration opportunities and value creation for many years to come and ensuring growth and innovation in our sector.

“Our strategy is to have a portfolio of exploration licenses that provides a good balance between exploration wells close to existing fields and infrastructure, and wells that, given discoveries, can form the basis for independent developments.”