NEWS

OSLO – Thirty companies have received offers of ownership interests in a total of 61 production licenses on the Norwegian Shelf in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2020.

The authorities assessed applications from a total of 33 companies during autumn 2020.

Of the 61 production licenses, 34 are in the North Sea, 24 are in the Norwegian Sea and 3 are in the Barents Sea. 12 of the production licenses are additional acreage to existing production licenses.

“This year’s award of 61 new production licenses to as many as 30 companies shows that the petroleum industry still has significant expectations of making profitable discoveries on the Norwegian Shelf,” says director license management in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Kalmar Ildstad.

“It’s positive that the companies are showing significant interest in exploring in areas with known geology, and close to existing infrastructure,” says Ildstad.

The player landscape in this APA award is very diverse. Both small companies and major international players are being offered exploration acreage.

Equinor has been awarded 17 new APA production licenses – 10 as operator and seven as partner.

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