APA 2021
All you need to know about the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2021.
28 companies offered ownership interests
18 January 2022, 28 companies received offers of ownership interests in a total of 53 production licences on the Norwegian Shelf in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2021.
See relevant files in the right hand margin.
Press release from the The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy: Great interest in further exploration activity on the Norwegian shelf
Continued significant interest in exploration in mature areas in APA 2021
The authorities have received applications from 31 companies in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2021. Read the news.
Awards in predefined areas 2021 (TFO 2021) – Announcement
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy announced APA 2021 on 9 June 2021, encompassing the predefined areas with blocks in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea.
- Ministry of Petroleum and Energy press release
- Invitation to apply for production licences for petroleum
Application deadline
The deadline to apply for APA 2021 is Wednesday, 8 September 2021 at 12:00. Applicants are encouraged to submit in good time before the deadline. Awards are expected during the first quarter of 2022.
Available acreage
Since APA 2020, the predefined areas (APA acreage) have been expanded by 4 blocks in the North Sea, 10 blocks in the Norwegian Sea and 70 blocks in the Barents Sea. 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 3 months prior to the application deadline, cannot be applied for.
That means that all acreage approved for relinquishment in the period up to three months prior to the application deadline is considered to be announced as of the application deadline.
Relinquished area is included on a continuous basis in the predefined area on the NPD’s interactive Factmap, and maps covering the final area that can be applied for will be provided as soon as practically possible. See links below.
Extended map updates
The NPD’s interactive maps are closed for new updates from Tuesday 6 July 2021, thus including as many relinquished licences as possible in the acreage available for APA 2021.
Please note that all four of the the production licences offered in the 25th round are included in available acreage in the APA 2021, see the 25th licensing round.
If these are awarded by the King in Council, the acreages will not be available in the APA 2021.
Map of area available for application in predefined areas as at the announcement date
The maps show licenced acreage within the APA boundaries as of June 9th, 2021. These areas can change during the application period. The NPD’s interactive FactMaps (NPD homepage) contain daily updated information showing the current area available for application.
Links
- Map in pdf: Predefined areas at announcement date
- NPD’s interactive Factmap: Updated map of announced areas
- Open data included block coordinates for announced areas
- Award statistics (shapefile)
How to apply in APA 2021
Each company that applies for production licences in APA 2021 must submit the following to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy:
1. Application letter, company information and receipt for paid application fee
2. Application(s)
The submission to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) is via L2S Authority Communication.
The submission to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE) shall be sent in any electronic format. L2S Authority Communication is one possible solution for submission this year.
1. Application letter, company information and receipt for paid application fee
The formal application letter with an overview of all applications the company is participating in, both individually and as a participant in group application(s), shall be submitted together with the company information. See Guide to application letter and company information APA 2021 for more information.
An application fee of NOK 123,000 must be paid for each application to APA 2021, including applications for additional acreage. When several companies join in a group application to apply for a production licence, this counts as one application.
One of the members of the group pays the fee. Payment shall be made to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, account no.: 7694.05.00326, marked "APA2021 (block number)". A copy of the receipt must be enclosed with the application letter from the company.
2. Application(s)
Each application for a production licence in APA 2021 must be submitted in electronic format. See Guide to Application for Production Licence APA 2021.
Guidelines
- Guide to application for production licence APA 2021
- Guide to application letter and company information APA 2021
Forms that must be completed
Shape files that must be included
- Area (AppliedArea)
- Prospects, leads and discoveries (Prospect_Lead)
Other application information
Available data
Contact NPD
Updated: 18/01/2022