19 oil & gas players widen their offshore acreage in Norwegian waters with new licenses

January 14, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has offered 57 production licenses to 19 oil and gas companies for further hydrocarbon exploration activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), as part of the award in the pre-defined areas 2025 (APA 2025) round, which represents an uptick from the previous licensing round when 20 players got 53 production licenses.

An offshore platform — Njord platform (for illustration purposes); Source: Equinor

Norway remains set on pursuing further oil and gas exploration activity, as illustrated by the interest shown in blocks that were on offer in the award in the APA 2025 round for oil and gas exploration compared to APA 2024. The authorities reviewed applications from 20 companies in fall 2025.

As a result, 19 companies have been offered ownership interests in 57 production licenses on the NCS, out of which 31 are in the North Sea, 21 in the Norwegian Sea, and five in the Barents Sea, with 20 of these said to be additional acreage for existing production licenses. Norway has handed out one or more operatorships to 13 players.

View on Offshore-energy.

The list of companies that have been offered parts in licenses and/or operatorships includes Aker BP (22/12), Concedo (2/1), ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (1/1), DNO Norge (17/4), Equinor (35/17), Harbour Energy Norge (9/4), INPEX Idemitsu Norge (5/1), Japex Norge (2/0), Lime Petroleum (1/0), OKEA (3/1), OMV (Norge) (4/2), Orlen Upstream Norway (6/0), Pandion Energy Norge (1/0), Petrolia NOCO (1/1), Repsol (2/2), Source Energy (2/0), TotalEnergies EP Norge (1/0), Vår Energi (14/6), and Wellesley Petroleum (5/5).

Kalmar Ildstad, Director of Regulations, Licence and Area Management at Norwegian Offshore Directorate, commented: “This year’s awards show that the companies still see the potential for profitable exploration in mature areas. Resources proven near established installations will be crucial to ensure high value creation and effective utilisation of infrastructure moving forward.

“It’s also encouraging that several companies have submitted applications to conduct new assessments of discoveries with tight reservoirs, where production has so far been deemed unlikely.”

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. Each production license gives the exclusive right to exploration, drilling, and extraction of petroleum within a particular geographical area.

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