Offshore staff
OSLO, Norway – The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has awarded 28 companies interests in 53 offshore production licenses, under the APA 2021 license round.
Twenty-eight of the licenses are in the North Sea, 20 in the Norwegian Sea, and five in the Barents Sea. Seventeen are additional acreage to existing production licenses.
Among the companies commenting on their haul, Equinor secured shares of 26 licenses in the North Sea.
Jez Averty, senior vice president for subsurface in Exploration & Production Norway, said: “At least 80% of our exploration resources and investments will be concentrated around existing infrastructure – so-called near-field or infrastructure-led exploration.”
This year the company plans to participate in around 25 Norwegian exploration wells, mainly close to existing infrastructure.
Vår Energi picked up 10 awards, five as operator, three of which are in the Barents Sea where the company operates the Goliat field.
ConocoPhillips Norway gained two Norwegian Sea operatorships close to its recent discoveries in the Heidrun field: the company plans further exploration and appraisal drilling here later this year, including a well on the Peder prospect. Its North Sea license PL 1146 is southeast of Oseberg.
Lundin Energy Norway, preparing to merge later this year with Aker BP, received interests in 10 licenses, five as operator. Six are in the North Sea, three in the Norwegian Sea, and one in the southern Barents Sea.
Wintershall Dea’s haul of seven licenses includes four as operator and two area extensions, all in mature areas where the company has existing acreage. Five of the new licenses are in the North Sea. The two other new licenses are in the Norwegian Sea.
DNO Norge AS gained participation in 10 exploration licenses, of which three are operatorships. Of the 10 new licenses, six are in the North Sea and four in the Norwegian Sea.
OKEA will participate in four new production licenses, three as operator (all in the Norwegian Sea), providing near-field exploration potential close to the Draugen and Gjøa production hubs. Its other license, to be operated by Spirit Energy, is in the North Sea, northeast of the Aurora discovery.
Concedo will partner in two North Sea licenses adjacent to existing production concessions (PL882 and PL1043), and a license in the Barents Sea operated by Vår Energi.
Longboat Energy Norway has a 25% interest in PL 1049C, covering a possible extension of the Cambozola prospect toward the north. Cambozola will be drilled back-to-back following the PL 293B Kveikje well (Longboat 10%), expected to spud at the end of the current quarter.
Sval Energi, which recently bid successfully for much of Spirit Energy’s E&P portfolio offshore Norway, has the following awards:
PL 927 B (50%)
PL 1138 (30%)
PL 1139 (20%
The full list is as follows (licenses/operatorships):
Aker BP (15/7)
A/S Norske Shell (2/1)
Chrysaor (4/1)
Concedo (3/0)
ConocoPhillips (3/3)
DNO (10/3)
Equinor (26/12)
Idemitsu (3/0)
KUFPEC (1/0)
Longboat (1/0)
LOTOS (4/0)
Lundin (10/5)
M Vest (2/0)
Neptune (2/2)
OKEA (4/3)
OMV (3/1)
ONE-Dyas (3/0)
Pandion (3/0)
Petrolia NOCO (2/0)
PGNiG (4/3)
Source (2/0)
Spirit (7/2)
Suncor (2/0)
Sval (3/0)
TotalEnergies (1/0)
Vår Energi (10/5)
Wellesley (3/1)
Wintershall Dea (7/4).
01/19/2022
