Twenty-four companies awarded licenses under Norway’s latest APA bid round

Offshore staff

OSLO, Norway — The Norwegian Ministry of Energy has offered 62 new production licenses to 24 companies under Norway’s APA 2023 licensing round, up from 47 licenses this time last year.

Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) is an annual lease round that includes mature areas of the Norwegian Continental Shelf with known geology and a relatively well-developed infrastructure in terms of production facilities and pipelines.

Twenty-nine of the new licenses are in the North Sea, 25 in the Norwegian Sea and eight in the Barents Sea. Sixteen of the applicants secured one or more of the licenses, all of which carry a binding work program.

Energy Minister Terje Asland said, “Last year I specifically encouraged companies to explore opportunities in the Barents Sea. This year we are offering more than double the number of production licenses in this region compared to last year's round.

“This shows that several companies have responded positively to the call, and that they are conscious of their social responsibilities. Proving more gas resources is important for profitability, by increasing the export capacity from this region.”

Sixteen of the new production licenses are additional acreage to existing licenses.

"We can see that the companies still have plenty of faith in making more discoveries in areas with familiar geology and close to existing infrastructure,” said Kalmar Ildstad, director license management at the Norwegian Offshore Directorate. “It's important to prove resources so that available capacity in established process plants and pipeline systems can be utilized. This means that even small discoveries can yield significant value creation."

The full list of license awards (participating interests and operatorships) is as follows:

A/S Norske Shell (1/1);
Aker BP (27/17);
Concedo (2/0);
ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (3/2);
DNO Norge AS (14/3);
Equinor Energy (39/14);
Harbour Energy Norge (1/1);
INPEX Idemitsu Norge (5/1);
KUFPEC Norway (2/0);
Lime Petroleum (1/0);
Longboat JAPEX Norge (1/0);
M Vest Energy (1/0);
Neptune Energy Norge (4/3);
OKEA (3/1); OMV (Norge) (6/6);
Pandion Energy (1/0);
Petrolia NOCO (2/1);
PGNiG Upstream Norway (10/1);
Source Energy (3/0);
Sval Energi (2/1);
TotalEnergies EP Norge (1/0);
Vår Energi (16/4);
Wellesley Petroleum (1/1); and
Wintershall Dea Norge (13/5).

Aker BP

Among those to comment on their hauls, Aker BP was offered ownership interests in 27 licenses, 17 as operator, in all three main areas.

“It reflects our comprehensive application and gives us a foundation for maintaining our ambitious exploration strategy”, said Per Øyvind Seljebotn, SVP exploration and reservoir development in Aker BP. "Our strategy is to have a portfolio of acreage that provides a good balance between exploration wells close to existing infrastructure and wells that can lay the foundation for independent developments if we make discoveries. For some of the exploration prospects, we are particularly targeting gas. It is more important than ever that Norway produces gas to secure the energy supply to Europe.”

Equinor

Equinor was awarded 39 new production licenses by the Ministry of Energy in this year's Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) round. Equinor was awarded 18 production licenses in the North Sea, 13 in the Norwegian Sea, and 8 in the Barents Sea. Equinor is the operator of 14 of the awarded licenses and a partner in 25. Read more.

Var Energi

Vår Energi has 16 new licenses, four as operator, in the three main areas, most close to existing infrastructure. It also picked up licenses in the western Barents Sea, a less explored area.

CEO Nick Walker said, “In addition to further development in and around existing fields, we are intensifying our work to unlock the hydrocarbon potential in the western Barents Sea… Access to new exploration acreage is key to maintaining our long-term position as a reliable supplier.”

Neptune Energy

Neptune Energy Norge, soon to merge with Vår Energi, has four new licenses all close to infrastructure in its Gjøa hub area. The company will operate three of these and serve as a partner in the fourth license.

Sval Energi

Sval Energi, one of the emerging Norwegian operators specializing in mature field management, will operate PL 1229 in the Norwegian Sea and will partner with Wintershall Dea, soon to be acquired by Harbour Energy, in PL 1225 S in the same sector.

The company added that it would participate in six confirmed exploration wells offshore Norway in 2024 and 2025.

DNO Norge

DNO Norge secured operatorship of three licenses and participation in 11 others, of which 10 are in the North Sea and four in the Norwegian Sea.

OKEA

OKEA was offered interests in three licenses. It will operate PL 1223 covering blocks 6407/5 and 6407/8 in the Norwegian Sea, containing the Galtvort discovery, a contender for a development through the company’s nearby Draugen hub infrastructure.

Another of the company’s new intake is close to Statfjord in the North Sea, where it is a partner to operator Equinor.

OMV

OMV landed five licenses in the Norwegian Sea and one in the North Sea, all as operator.

INPEX

INPEX Idemitsu Norge will participate in five licenses in the northen and southern Norwegian North Sea.

Longboat JAPEX

Longboat JAPEX gained a 20% stake in the Eqiuinor-operated PL 1212 S in the northern Norwegian North Sea, containing the Magnolia prospect. The area contains an emerging Paleogene injectite play which includes the Kveikje discovery and the Kjøttkake/Lotus exploration well (Longboat JAPEX 15%), due to spud this summer.

Magnolia could hold prospective resources of 39 MMboe, with further upside estimated at 57 Mmboe. If proven, Magnolia and Kjøttkake/Lotus would likely form part of an area cluster development also encompassing other recent finds nearby.

The work program comprises acquisition and/or reprocessing of modern 3D seismic and G&G studies within the initial one-year period.

Longboat JAPEX added that the fifth and final new infill well for the Statfjord Øst redevelopment in the North Sea has now been drilled and production from the Statfjord Øst and Sygna fields should ramp up in the current quarter.

Petrolia NOCO

Petrolia NOCO’s awards include operatorship of PL 1221 in partnership with Equinor in the Norwegian Sea, close to its existing acreage (PL 935) in the Frøya High area.

Pandion Energy

Pandion Energy gained a foothold in PL 1101 B, additional acreage to PL 1101 in the northern North Sea (Pandion 20%).

Wintershall DEA

Wintershall Dea has been awarded 13 exploration licenses by the Norwegian Ministry of Energy in the 2023 Award in Predefined Areas (APA). Five licenses were awarded to Wintershall as operator and eight as a partner. Wintershall has participated in 19 discoveries since 2019. Most of these are the result of licenses awarded in previous APA rounds. Read more.

01.19.2024