Nineteen firms awarded stakes in Norway's APA 2025 bid round

Nineteen oil and gas companies have been awarded production licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf as part of Norway's Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2025 licensing round.

Of these, 13 companies will be offered one or more operatorships. A total of 57 production licenses were on offer by Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy to oil and gas firms – 31 in the North Sea, 21 in the Norwegian Sea, and 5 in the Barents Sea. Twenty of the licenses are additional acreage for existing production licenses.

The authorities assessed applications from a total of 20 companies.

“This year’s awards show that the companies still see the potential for profitable exploration in mature areas. Resources proven near established installations will be crucial to ensure high value creation and effective utilization of infrastructure moving forward,” said Kalmar Ildstad, director of regulations, license and area management, Norwegian Offshore Directorate.

"It's also encouraging that several companies have submitted applications to conduct new assessments of discoveries with tight reservoirs, where production has so far been deemed unlikely," he added.

Leading operator roles 

Equinor was awarded 35 new production licenses, 21 of which lie in the North Sea, 10 in the Norwegian Sea, and 4 in the Barents Sea. Equinor will serve as operator on 17 of the licenses.

The company plans to drill 20-30 exploration wells annually and said 80% of the exploration will be near existing infrastructure, while 20% will explore new concepts and lesser-known areas.

“Our geological knowledge is high, and we are constantly learning more through further exploration. Awards in lesser-known areas, such as we have received in the northeastern part of the North Sea and in the southwestern Møre Basin, provide new and exciting opportunities,” said Jez Averty, Equinor’s senior vice-president for subsurface, Norwegian continental shelf.

Aker BP has been offered ownership interests in 22 exploration licenses, 12 of which will be Aker BP-operated.

Work on the licenses, which span the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea, include “two committed exploration wells and extensive seismic data acquisition aimed at rapidly assessing the resource potential,” the company said.

Aker BP, too, said the portfolio of awards is a mix of opportunities close to existing infrastructure and prospects in less explored areas.

Further, the company said, the awards include operatorship in licenses covering “material gas discoveries in tight reservoirs, previously regarded as challenging to commercialize (Victoria and Warka in the Norwegian Sea, and Norvarg and Ververis in the Barents Sea),” where the company plans to apply new technology.

Vår Energi ASA was awarded 14 licenses (6 operated). Of the 14 licenses, 4 are in the North Sea, 6 in the Norwegian Sea, and 4 in the Barents Sea.

Some of the larger awards went to DNO Norge AS (17 licenses, 4 as operator), Vår Energi ASA (14 licenses, 6 as operator), and Harbour Energy Norge AS (9 licenses, 4 as operator). 

Other awards were (number of licenses /operatorships):

• Wellesley Petroleum AS (5/5). 
• OMV (Norge) AS (4/2).
• Concedo AS (2/1).
• ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS (1/1).
• INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS (5/1).
• Japex Norge AS (2/0).
• Lime Petroleum AS (1/0).
• OKEA ASA (3/1).
• Orlen Upstream Norway AS (6/0).
• Pandion Energy Norge AS (1/0).
• Petrolia NOCO AS (1/1).
• Repsol (2/2).
• Source Energy AS (2/0).
• TotalEnergies EP Norge AS (1/0).