Norway offers 12 production licenses

June 18, 2018
Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy announced it is offering 12 production licenses to 11 companies. Nine of the offers are in the Barents Sea with the rest in the Norwegian Sea. Two offers are in the western Norwegian Sea deepwater as part of the 24th licensing round, which started in June 2017. Previously, 11 companies applied for the licenses by the deadline. 

Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy announced it is offering 12 production licenses to 11 companies. Nine of the offers are in the Barents Sea with the rest in the Norwegian Sea.

Two offers are in the western Norwegian Sea deepwater as part of the 24th licensing round, which started in June 2017. Previously, 11 companies applied for the licenses by the deadline (OGJ Online, Dec. 6, 2017).

“It is encouraging that the industry wants to explore these frontier areas of the shelf,” said Torgeir Stordal, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) exploration director. He noted oil companies also are interested in the eastern Norwegian Sea.

“If discoveries are made, this area can contribute important additional resources to the existing infrastructure,” Stordal said.

The nine production licenses being offered in the Barents Sea involve little explored areas. Two of the new licenses are additional acreage to existing production licenses.

“The largest undiscovered resource potential on the Norwegian Continental Shelf is in the Barents Sea,” Stordal said. “We also believe that this is the area on the shelf most likely to deliver large discoveries.”