Norwegian authorities receive applications from 20 companies for APA 2025
Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy received license applications from 20 companies for the latest licensing round for the most well-known exploration areas on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The deadline for applications for oil and gas companies to be considered for the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2025 was Sept. 2.
The Ministry announced the 2025 APA on May 9, 2025. For APA 2025, the area has been expanded to include all or parts of 76 blocks — eight in the Norwegian Sea and 68 in the Barents Sea.
“It is encouraging to see that there is still significant interest in exploring new acreage in mature areas of the Norwegian continental shelf. The interest spans all sea regions, which demonstrates that there are many opportunities to make profitable discoveries from the south to the north of the shelf,” said Kalmar Ildstad, director of regulations, license, and area management, Norwegian Offshore Directorate.
Production license awards are expected to be announced early 2026.
APA 2025 applicants
- Aker BP ASA
- Concedo AS
- ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS
- DNO Norway AS
- Equinor Energy AS
- Harbour Energy Norge AS
- INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS
- Japex Norway AS
- Lime Petroleum AS
- OKEA ASA
- OMV Norway AS
- ORLEN Upstream Norway AS
- Pandion Energy AS
- Petrolia NOCO AS
- Repsol Norway AS
- Source Energy AS
- Sval Energi AS
- TotalEnergies EP Norway AS
- Vår Energi ASA
- Wellesley Petroleum AS