Norway's Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland
Core areas key for Norwegian APA awards
The winners of new NCS acreage stress synergies with existing portfolios
State-owned Equinor unsurprisingly dominates licences apportioned in Norway’s Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2022 round, nabbing 18 blocks as operator and a further eight as a shareholder of the 47 on offer, which were shared across 25 companies (see Fig.1). But its narrative on its appetite for acreage is shared by a raft of other successful Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) bidders—namely the importance of adding volumes close to existing infrastructure and producing fields. “Around 80pc of the exploration wells will be drilled in known, mature areas. Discoveries near existing infrastructure require less volume to be commercially developed and can be quickly put on stream and with
Also in this section
15 May 2025
Financial problems, lack of exploration success and political dogma cause uncertainty across much of the region
14 May 2025
The invisible hand of the market has seen increasing transparency but much more needs to be done to build a better understanding
13 May 2025
A fall in Venezuelan output drives overall production lower, as Saudi Arabia starts to slowly bring more crude to the market
12 May 2025
With the gas industry’s staunchest advocates and opponents taking brutal blows, the sector looks like treading a path of insipid indifference
