Norway launches APA 2020 offshore licensing round

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy announced the APA 2020 licensing round on Friday, comprising the predefined areas with blocks in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea.

The Awards
in Predefined Areas (APA) round is one of two equal licensing rounds on the
Norwegian continental shelf and takes place annually.

It was
introduced back in 2003 to facilitate exploration in geologically mature parts
of the Shelf.

Exploration
in those areas mainly focuses on smaller discoveries that would not justify an
independent development but can be profitable if developed in conjunction with
other discoveries or utilising existing infrastructure.

The
Norwegian oil and gas industry is the country’s largest and most important
industry for value creation, government revenues, exports, and investments.

To maintain
long term activity, the country depends on continued exploration. According to
the Ministry, new discoveries in mature areas are important for achieving good
capacity utilization in production and transport facilities and for good
management of time-critical resources.

Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tina Bru said: “The Norwegian Government pursues a long-term, predictable petroleum policy. New discoveries are a prerequisite for long-term employment, value creation and government revenues. Regular licensing rounds on the Norwegian Continental Shelf are therefore a key element in our policy.”

APA 2020 has extended its predefined area by 36 blocks west of the Norwegian Sea. The extension proposal was announced in late March and was subject to public consultation. No expansion was proposed for the North Sea or Barents Sea.

The launch
date of the licensing round is Friday, 19 June 2020, while the deadline for
applications is set for Tuesday, 22 September 2020.

Following
the completion of the application process, the aim is to grant new production
licenses in the announced areas in early 2021.

“The APA rounds include large parts of the open, accessible part of the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Even after decades of activity, there are still opportunities in these areas.

“Due to new technology and a multitude of new players, I believe we will see new discoveries in the areas available in this year’s APA round”, Bru added.

It is worth
noting that applications can be submitted for all available blocks or parts of
blocks within the predefined areas. Blocks or parts of blocks that become
available less than three months before the application deadline, cannot be
applied for.

At the beginning of the year, 28 companies have been offered ownership interests in a total of 69 production licences in the APA 2019.

Of the 69
production licences offered, 33 are in the North Sea, 23 in the Norwegian Sea,
and 13 in the Barents Sea. The licenses are awarded with work-program
commitments or as additional areas to such licenses.

To remind, licences were offered to Aker BP, Shell, Capricorn, Chrysaor, Concedo, ConocoPhillips, DNO, Edison, Equinor, Idemitsu, INEOS, Lime, Lotos, Lundin, Neptune, OKEA, OMV, ONE-Dyas, Pandion, PGNiG, Repsol, Source, Spirit, Suncor, Total, Vår Energi, Wellesley, and Wintershall Dea.

Header photo by: SP Mac (used under permission by photographer)