The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has received applications from 26 companies in connection with the announcement of APA 2022.

"We need exploration and new discoveries to maintain the production of oil and gas over time, which is important both for Norway and Europe. The applications in TFO 2022 show very good interest among the companies active on the Norwegian continental shelf in exploring for new petroleum resources. This is very pleasent," says Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Mr. Terje Aasland.

Awards in predefined areas (APA) is the annual licensing round for the best-known exploration areas on the Norwegian shelf. It comprises the majority of the available exploration areas.

By the application deadline of12th September, the Ministry had received applications from a total of 26 companies. The Ministry does not publish the total number of applications because of competitive considerations.

The APA area is being expanded as geological knowledge in areas on the Norwegian shelf increases. In this year's licensing round, the predefined area was expanded in the Barents Sea.

APA 2022 was announced on14th June 2022. The aim is to award new production licenses in the announced areas at the beginning of 2023.

Full announcement text, updated map of announced blocks, HSE, environmental and fisheries conditions and further information is available on the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's website.

List of companies that have applied:

• A/S Norske Shell
• Aker BP ASA
• Chrysaor Norge AS
• Concedo AS
• ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS
• DNO Norge AS
• Equinor Energy AS
• INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS
• KUFPEC Norway AS
• Lime Petroleum AS
• Longboat Energy Norge AS
• LOTOS Exploration and Production Norge AS
• M Vest Energy AS
• Neptune Energy Norge AS
• OKEA ASA
• OMV (Norge) AS
• Pandion Energy AS
• Pandion Energy Norge AS
• Petrolia NOCO AS
• Source Energy AS
• PGNiG Upstream Norway AS
• Sval Energi AS
• TotalEnergies EP Norge AS
• Vår Energi ASA
• Wellesley Petroleum AS
• Wintershall Dea Norge AS

Background

Before licenses can be granted for petroleum activity in an area on the Norwegian continental shelf, the area must be open for petroleum activities. Production licenses can only be granted in areas that are open and accessible for petroleum activities.

A production license gives the exclusive right to explore, drill and extract petroleum within the license's geographical area. Production licenses are normally awarded through licensing rounds. In a licensing round, the ministry announces certain geographical areas where companies can apply for production licenses. On the basis of the applications received, a production license is granted to a group of companies on the basis of objective, non-discriminatory and pre-announced criteria. The Ministry designates one operator for each production license.

The annual licensing rounds APA (Awards in predefined areas) were introduced in 2003. The aim was to best facilitate the identification and extraction of profitable resources in mature areas before existing infrastructure shuts down. The APA licensing rounds take place annually and within a predefined area. This gives the companies predictability about the available areas to apply for in the APA. This facilitates regular replenishment of new exploration area for the companies, which is important for achieving effective exploration. Over time, the APA area is expanded based on petroleum professional assessments of the areas' maturity, and in particular the need for step-by-step exploration and utilization of time-critical resources. Today, the APA area comprises the majority of open, accessible exploration area on the Norwegian continental shelf.