Norway Offers 69 Production Licenses to 28 Oil and Gas Companies
The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has offered 69 offshore production licenses to a total of 28 oil companies under the Award in Pre-Defined Areas 2019 (APA 2019)
The authorities assessed applications from a total of 33 companies through autumn 2019 and awards have been offered to a broad spectrum of players, with a good mix of small and medium-sized companies, as well as major international players.Of these, 19 will be offered operatorships.
The 69 production licenses are located in the North Sea (33), the Norwegian Sea (23) and the Barents Sea (13).
18 of the production licenses are additional acreage to existing production licenses or agreement-based areas.
The licenses are awarded with work-programme commitments or as additional areas to such licenses.
Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Sylvi Listhaug, said, “Hopefully, the exploration in the awarded acreage will result in new discoveries. This is important to ensure employment, value-creation and future government revenue for Norway’s largest industry.”
The APA licensing rounds cover the most explored areas on the Norwegian shelf.
Torgeir Stordal, head of exploration at the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, said, “It is encouraging that companies show willingness to test new exploration concepts. Many are also focusing on proving resources near existing infrastructure. This combination is important for continued value creation on the Norwegian Shelf.”
One of the primary challenges in mature areas is the expected decline in discovery size.
According to Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, smaller discoveries may not be able to carry standalone developments, but can have good profitability when making use of existing and planned infrastructure. It can also be seen in context with other discoveries or planned developments.
