Norway Offers 57 New Production Licenses to 19 Companies

The Norwegian Ministry of Energy announced, in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday, that it has offered 57 new production licenses to 19 companies on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in the APA (Awards in Predefined Areas) 2025 licensing round.

Of the 57 production licenses offered in APA 2025, 31 are located in the North Sea, 21 in the Norwegian Sea, and five in the Barents Sea, the statement highlighted.

Equinor Energy AS was offered the highest number of combined parts in licenses and operatorships, with 52, followed by Aker BP ASA, with 34, and DNO Norge AS, with 21, the statement revealed. A complete list of offers, showing parts/operatorships, as shown on the ministry’s site, can be seen below:

Aker BP ASA (22/12)
Concedo AS (2/1)
ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS (1/1)
DNO Norge AS (17/4)
Equinor Energy AS (35/17)
Harbour Energy Norge AS (9/4)
INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS (5/1)

Japex Norge AS (2/0)
Lime Petroleum AS (1/0)
OKEA ASA (3/1)
OMV (Norge) AS (4/2)
Orlen Upstream Norway AS (6/0)
Pandion Energy Norge AS (1/0)
Petrolia NOCO AS (1/1)
Repsol (2/2)
Source Energy AS (2/0)
TotalEnergies EP Norge AS (1/0)
Vår Energi ASA (14/6)
Wellesley Petroleum AS (5/5)

All petroleum licensing rounds are carried out within the framework established by the Norwegian Parliament for where new production licenses may be awarded, the ministry’s statement noted, adding that APA is an annual exploration round for the Norwegian continental shelf.

“The APA rounds are carried out within a fixed area, the APA area, which is expanded on the basis of petroleum professional assessments and in accordance with a fixed annual cycle,” the statement highlighted.

“The APA area comprises the majority of the opened, available acreage on the continental shelf, including areas in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea,” it said.

“A binding work program is linked to all the licenses to ensure maturation of the acreage or relinquishment of the license to the state as the resource owner,” the ministry noted in the statement.

Annual APA licensing rounds were introduced in 2003, the ministry highlighted in the statement, noting that the aim was to facilitate the discovery and extraction of profitable resources in mature areas before existing infrastructure is shut down. Today, the APA area covers most of the opened, available exploration areas on the Norwegian continental shelf, the statement pointed out.

“Norway is Europe’s most important energy supplier, but in a few years production will begin to decline,” Norway Minister of Energy, Terje Aasland, said in the statement.

“Therefore, we need new projects that can slow the decline and deliver as much production as possible. Today, we are offering 57 new production licenses to 19 companies,” Aasland added.

“This is a significant contribution to ensuring continued activity in the oil and gas industry. That activity is important for jobs, value creation, and Europe’s energy security’, the minister continued.

In a statement posted on its website, Equinor announced that it had been awarded 35 new production licenses by the Ministry of Energy in this year’s APA.

“Equinor will gain access to attractive acreage in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea, strengthening the foundation for the company’s exploration activity, production and long-term value creation on the Norwegian continental shelf,” Equinor said in this statement.

The company highlighted that 21 of its awards are located in the North Sea, 10 are in the Norwegian Sea, and four are in the Barents Sea.

“We are very pleased with the APA round, which facilitates our plans for a continued high level of activity within exploration,” Jez Averty, Equinor Senior Vice President for Subsurface, the Norwegian Continental Shelf, said in the statement.

“A strong year has been completed with 14 discoveries in 2025, seven of them Equinor operated. This amounts to approximately 125 million barrels of new recoverable oil equivalent, with a potential for even more,” Averty added.

“Our geological knowledge is high, and we are constantly learning more through further exploration. Awards in lesser-known areas, such as we have received in the northeastern part of the North Sea and in the southwestern Møre Basin, provide new and exciting opportunities,” Averty continued.

In a statement posted on its site, Aker BP confirmed that the Norwegian authorities had offered Aker BP ownership interests in 22 exploration licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in the APA 2025 licensing round.

“The awards strengthen the company’s position as one of the most active exploration companies on the NCS,” Aker said in the statement.

Aker BP highlighted in the statement that it has been awarded licenses in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea. It said the portfolio represents a balanced mix of opportunities close to existing infrastructure and prospects in less explored areas.

“We are pleased with the outcome of this year’s APA round,” Petter Sørhaug, SVP Exploration and Reservoir Development in Aker BP, said in the statement.

“The awards support our long-term growth ambitions on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and provide a solid basis for pursuing a focused and value-driven exploration strategy,” Sørhaug added.

In a statement posted on DNO’s website, DNO ASA announced that its wholly owned subsidiary DNO Norge AS had been awarded participation in 17 exploration licenses under Norway’s APA 2025 licensing round.

Of the 17 new licenses, 15 are in the North Sea and two in the Norwegian Sea, DNO highlighted in the statement.

“We are pleased once again to be among the top recipients in the APA round with the award of significant interests in high-quality acreage, including operatorships, in DNO core areas,” DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said in this statement.

“Our teams are chomping at the bit to capture new discoveries and push them to production rapidly,” Mossavar-Rahmani added.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com