Norway licensing round confirms lure of the mature

A record number of licenses were awarded, in keeping with a rise in exploration activity across the North Sea, though firm work commitments fell

The results of Norway's 24th licensing round, announced on 15 January, suggest that interest in mature areas of North Sea oil is holding up amid lower developments costs and improved seismic data. The so-called awards in predefined areas (APA 2018) is the largest ever award in one round on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), with 83 licenses offered. Of these 37 are in the North Sea, 32 in the Norwegian Sea and 14 in the Barents Sea. They went to groups involving 33 different oil companies of varying sizes. "The number of awards shows that the companies believe that more resources remain to be found in areas with known geology and near existing infrastructure," Torgeir Stordal, the Norwe