Sokkeldirektoratet

APA 2020: 30 companies offered ownership interests

1/19/2021 30 companies have received offers of ownership interests in a total of 61 production licences on the Norwegian Shelf in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2020.

The authorities assessed applications from a total of 33 companies during autumn 2020.

Of the 61 production licences, 34 are in the North Sea, 24 are in the Norwegian Sea and 3 are in the Barents Sea. 12 of the production licences are additional acreage to existing production licences.

“This year’s award of 61 new production licences to as many as 30 companies shows that the petroleum industry still has significant expectations of making profitable discoveries on the Norwegian Shelf,” says director licence management in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Kalmar Ildstad.

“It’s positive that the companies are showing significant interest in exploring in areas with known geology, and close to existing infrastructure,” says Ildstad.

The player landscape in this APA award is very diverse. Both small companies and major international players are being offered exploration acreage.

Read more and download files

Press release from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy about APA 2020

Contact

Ola Anders Skauby

Director Communication, public affairs and emergency response

Tel: +47 905 98 519

Updated: 1/19/2021

Latest news

Drilling permit for wellbore 31/4-A-15 B
6/30/2025 The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted OKEA ASA drilling permit for wellbore 31/4-A-15 B in production licence 055.
Oil discovery near the Johan Castberg field in the Barents Sea (7220/7-CD-1H)
6/30/2025 Equinor and its partners have made an oil discovery in the "Drivis Tubåen" prospect.
Check out our key figures in new visualisations!
6/27/2025 Now you have a quick and easy way to extract key figures associated with petroleum activities on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) in an interactive dashboard.
Drilling permit for wellbore 6506/12-PB-3 H
6/26/2025 The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted Equinor Energy AS drilling permit for wellbore 6506/12-PB-3 H in production licence 094.
Dry well in the North Sea (25/11-30 S)
6/26/2025 Equinor and its partners have drilled a dry well on the «Lit» prospect in the North Sea.
Dry well in the Norwegian Sea (6405/7-4)
6/25/2025 Aker BP and its partners have drilled a dry well on the “Rondeslottet” prospect in the Norwegian Sea.
Drilling permit for wellbore 15/8-3 S
6/23/2025 The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has granted Equinor Energy AS drilling permit for wellbore 15/8-3 S in production licence 1137.
Production figures May 2025
6/20/2025 Preliminary production figures for May 2025 show an average daily production of 1 980 000 barrels of oil, NGL and condensate.
Appraisal well confirms oil discovery in the Norwegian Sea (6507/5-12 S)
6/19/2025 ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS, operator of production licence 891, has concluded drilling of the second appraisal well, 6507/5-12 S, on the 6507/5-10 S (Slagugle) oil discovery .
Expedition to map the environment
6/18/2025 The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has participated in research expeditions for many years in an effort to acquire more knowledge about the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) and the resources in the subsurface. Now we’ve also gathered environmental data.