Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy received license applications from 25 companies for the Awards in the latest licensing round for exploration areas on the Norwegian shelf (APA 2023).
The Ministry announced APA 2023 on May 10, encompassing the predefined areas with blocks in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea. The APA area is being expanded as geological knowledge in areas on the Norwegian shelf increases. In this year's licensing round, the predefined area was expanded in the North Sea and the Barents Sea.
“Without exploration and new discoveries, we will neither be able to maintain the production of oil and gas over time or further develop the petroleum sector and all the jobs in the industry. That the oil companies are showing such great interest in the awarding of new production licenses and exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf is therefore very good,” said Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Terje Aasland.
“It's gratifying to note the continuing significant interest in investigating new exploration acreage among almost all active companies on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, and that we see an increased interest in the Barents Sea this year,” said Kalmar Ildstad, license management director, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.
Most of the companies that are active on the Norwegian shelf have submitted applications in this year's APA, authorities said. The application deadline was Aug. 23.
Production license awards are expected to be announced early 2024.
