The Ministry of Energy of Norway has received applications from a total of 21 companies for its 2024 awards in pre-defined areas (APA 2024) and offered ownership interests in 53 production licences on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) to 20 companies. Of these 53 production licences, 33 are in the North Sea, 19 in the Norwegian Sea and 1 in the Barents Sea, and 20 of them are additional acreage for existing production licences.
The national energy group Equinor will take part in 27 production licences, including 7 as operator. Other winners include Aker BP (19 licences, 16 as operator), Vår Energi (16 licences, including 5 operatorships), DNO Norge and Petoro (13 licences each).
The annual APA licensing rounds were introduced in 2003 and the APA area now covers most of the opened, available exploration areas on the Norwegian continental shelf. The APA 2024 was announced in May 2024, with applications ending in early September 2024.
