Work commitments in production licences
Once awarded, the production licence generally enters an initial phase, called the exploration period. The initial phase can last for up to 10 years from the date the production licence was awarded, cf. Section 3-9 of the Petroleum Act.
The licence has a committed work program which is split into multiple phases with specific time periods.
For example, the work program in the first phase may involve acquiring new seismic data. The next phase may involve drilling an exploration well. Requirements for applications and reporting are established in the licence document for each individual licence.
After each phase, the licensees must decide by the applicable deadline whether or not to continue the licence to the next phase. The work commitment must be approved as complete in order to continue, and the decision must be reported to the Ministry of Energy, with a copy to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate.
Notifications on decisions and applications to extend deadlines
To report a decision, you must use the form "Production licence – notification on decision" in Altinn. If no such decision is made before the deadline, the production licence will lapse. Information about the work program and status of individual production licences can be found in the Norwegian Offshore Directorate's FactPages.
If, for various reasons, more time is needed to complete the work program before deciding to continue to the next phase, licensees can apply to extend applicable deadlines in the work program.
Use the relevant Altinn forms
NOTE! The transition from SMIL/L2S to forms in Altinn takes effect on 21 October 2026. Before then, operators and licensees must grant the necessary Altinn rights to employees who will be using the forms.
Operators and licensees must log into Altinn via "ID-porten" (shared log-in solution for government services) to submit
- applications to extend deadlines (use the form "Production licence – extension of deadlines")
- notifications on decisions linked to production licences (use the form "Production licence – notification on decision")
These forms and communication relating to them will no longer be submitted via SMIL/Licence2Share (L2S).
Frequently asked questions about submitting applications and notifications via Altinn
Updated: 12/22/2023