‘Larger’ slice for oil & gas exploration on Norway’s new offshore licensing menu

Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has launched the award in pre-defined areas 2025 (APA 2025) round for oil and gas exploration activity, covering the predefined areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) with blocks in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea.

After the Norwegian Ministry of Energy sent out a proposal for the APA 2025 for public consultation on January 14, 2025, with a consultation deadline of February 25, a total of 30 consultation statements were received from private individuals, companies, organizations, government agencies, and ministries.

Several of the consultation statements dealt with petroleum activities and climate considerations, as the Norwegian climate policy is based on the principles of the UN-led climate cooperation, including the Paris Agreement, and petroleum activities are subject to a strict emissions regulation regime that the Storting has endorsed.

While the ministry claims that no new, significant information has been received through the consultation, it also emphasizes that consideration for fisheries, shipping, shipwrecks, and possible cultural heritage has been taken into account through the general conditions contained in the concession documents and through established regulations.

Afterward, the Ministry of Energy announced APA 2025 on May 9, 2025, encompassing the predefined areas with blocks in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, September 2, 2025, with awards expected during the first quarter of 2026. 

The predefined areas have been expanded by 68 blocks in the Barents Sea and 8 blocks in the Norwegian Sea since APA 2024. Applications can be submitted for all available blocks or parts of blocks within the predefined areas, allowing oil and gas companies to gain access to exploration acreage in the best-known open and accessible petroleum areas on the NCS. 

Terje Aasland, Norway’s Minister of Energy, highlighted: “We will explore more, find more and extract more. Therefore, it is important to ensure that companies have stable access to exploration areas. Never before has a larger area been advertised in a licensing round. It is good for Norway and for Europe.”

Furthermore, the area included in the APA 2025 round is said to constitute approximately 75% of the area opened for petroleum activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, providing hydrocarbon players with the opportunity to replenish their exploration arsenal.

“The APA rounds are a pillar of the government’s petroleum policy. Further exploration and more discoveries are crucial to limiting the decline in production on the continental shelf after 2030. The expansion this year gives companies access to significant new acreage in the Barents Sea and we are thus even better positioned to clarify the resource base in the north,” added Aasland.

The APA area of this year’s round has been expanded by a total of 76 blocks in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea, based on petroleum expert assessments. The oil and gas industry is perceived to be the country’s largest and most important industry for value creation, government revenue, exports, and investments.

The Norwegian Ministry of Energy is adamant that continuity in exploration endeavors is important to maintain activity in the long term, as it provides opportunities for discoveries that can be developed to help uphold production levels and achieve good capacity utilization in production and transportation facilities in mature areas to ensure good management of energy resources that are seen as time-critical.

The search is largely for smaller discoveries that cannot justify independent development but can be profitable when viewed in conjunction with other discoveries and/or can exploit existing or planned infrastructure.

“It is therefore important to explore these areas in a timely manner. Predictability about which areas it is possible to apply for in the APA and a steady replenishment of new area is important to achieve effective exploration,” elaborated the ministry.

Moreover, the APA 2025 proposed area contains areas with known exploration models and exploration history, including previous exploration wells, areas that have been surrendered, and areas that lie geographically between the awarded and surrendered areas, alongside those that border existing predefined areas.

“It is important to clarify the resource base in our most well-known exploration areas before infrastructure is phased out. I am therefore concerned that the industry takes responsibility by identifying and searching for opportunities with significant resource potential. This is in addition to the exploration close to the infrastructure that must be continued,” emphasized Aasland.