Norway: Great Interest in the 21st Licensing Round

When the application deadline for the 21st licensing round on the Norwegian shelf expired on 3 November, 37 companies had submitted applications.

Director of Exploration Sissel Eriksen in the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate is very pleased that companies still consider the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea to be interesting exploration areas.

“The interest shown by the companies illustrates that new exploration acreage on the Norwegian shelf is still competitive, also in an international perspective,” says Eriksen.

The announced area is somewhat larger than in the 20th licensing round.

These 37 companies have applied for production licences, individually or in groups:

* A/S Norske Shell

* Bayerngas Norge AS

* BG Norge AS

* Bridge Energy Norge AS

* Centrica Resources (Norge) AS

* Chevron Norge AS

* Concedo ASA

* ConocoPhillips Scandinavia AS

* Dana Petroleum Norway AS

* Det norske oljeselskap ASA

* DONG E&P Norge AS

* E.ON Ruhrgas Norge AS

* Edison International Spa

* Eni Norge AS

* ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Norway AS

* Faroe Petroleum Norge AS

* Front Exploration AS

* GDF SUEZ E&P Norge AS

* Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS

* Lotos Exploration and Production Norge AS

* Lundin Norway AS

* Maersk Oil Norway AS

* Marathon Petroleum Norge AS

* Nexen Exploration Norge AS

* Norwegian Energy Company AS

* North Energy ASA

* OMV (Norge) AS

* Petro-Canada Norge AS

* PGNiG Norway AS

* Repsol Exploration Norge AS

* Rocksource ASA

* RWE Dea Norge AS

* Sagex Petroleum Norge AS

* Spring Energy Norway AS

* Statoil Petroleum AS

* VNG Norge AS

* Wintershall Norge ASA

“The work of evaluating the applications starts now. The NPD strives to find the best strategy for exploring areas, and therefore looks for companies with the best knowledge and the best applications,” says Eriksen.

Companies that are awarded production licences must have technical expertise and a sound understanding of geology. Emphasis is also placed on financial strength and experience.

“In the case of group applications, we look at the composition of the group, the recommended operator and joint expertise,” Eriksen says.

Companies could apply for production licences in a total of 94 blocks or parts of blocks. Fishery and environmental conditions are linked to the various blocks. The NPD itself has mapped all of the announced blocks.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy plans to award new production licences in the 21st licensing round in the spring of 2011.

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Source: Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, November 5, 2010;