26th round

All you need to know about the 26th licensing round.

In its press release of 8 August 2025, the Ministry of Energy tasked the Norwegian Offshore Directorate with conducting a nomination process vis-á-vis licensees on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), so they can provide input on the acreage they would like to see announced in a 26th licensing round.

The numbered licensing rounds cover the opened, frontier parts of the NCS with the greatest potential for making large discoveries.

The companies' nominations are contributions to knowledge gathering, and their input in the nomination process and the Norwegian Offshore Directorate's own subsurface assessments will constitute the basis for the Directorate's technical petroleum recommendation to the Ministry regarding the acreage that should be announced in the 26th licensing round.

The Ministry's proposed announcement will be published for public consultation.

All acreage that is open and available for petroleum activities can be nominated in the 26th licensing round, with the exception of the following:

Areas covered by existing licences
Areas included in the APA area (Awards in pre-defined areas)
Areas with restrictions that follow from the management plans for the ocean areas and areas where the Government has obligations vis-à-vis its coalition parties.

Blocks the companies can nominate in the 26th licensing round are shown in the maps below.

Nominated blocks are divided into two categories – ”interesting” and ”very interesting”. The total number of nominated blocks should be limited to no more than 15. The nominated blocks must be accompanied by a brief description and extensive data according to the template from Guidelines for nominating blocks for the 26th licensing round (see guidelines blow).

The deadline for submitting nominations to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate is 1 October 2025 at 12:00 o'clock.

Maps of acreage available for nomination in the 26th licensing round

Map showing blocks for nomination in the 26th round in the Barents Sea.

Map of acreage available for nomination in the Barents Sea in 26th licensing round.

Map showing blocks for nomination in the 26th round in the Norwegian Sea.

Map of acreage available for nomination in the Norwegian Sea in 26th licensing round.

Map showing blocks for nomination in the 26th round in the North Sea. Map of acreage available for nomination in the North Sea in 26th licensing round.