The Shelf in 2005 - Award of area
12/01/2006 During 2005, the companies on the Norwegian shelf were offered 45 new production licences. These were awards in predefined areas (APA). Also, in the autumn of 2005 the application deadline for production licences offered in the 19th licensing round expired.
APA 2005
In December 2005, 26 companies were offered a total of 45 exploration licences in the mature areas of the Norwegian shelf. The 2005 area awards were the third round of awards under the APA scheme. The area, as well as the number of applicants, has increased each year.
The objective of the APA system is to promote faster exploration of mature areas. This system also improves predictability as the industry now knows which areas of the mature part of the shelf will become available in the years to come. The predefined areas will be extended by new blocks each year as the shelf matures for petroleum activities, but the areas will not be curtailed. This will make it more attractive for new, smaller companies to establish themselves on the Norwegian shelf.
Many of the well-established companies on the Norwegian shelf have been offered acreage under APA 2005. We are also pleased to see that many new players have also been offered tasks on the Norwegian shelf," said May-Britt Vik, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's APA 2005 coordinator, when the offer was issued to the companies just before Christmas.
APA 2005 was considered by the King in Council on 6 January 2006. All the companies accepted the offer.
Offers to 16 operators:
(number of operatorships in brackets)
- BG Norge (4)
- DNO (2)
- DONG Norge(2)
- Endeavour Energy Norge (1)
- Eni Norge (1)
- Idemitsu Petroleum Norge(1)
- Lundin Norway (2)
- Norsk Hydro produksjon (12)
- Norske Shell (1)
- Paladin Resources Norge (1)
- Pertra (2)
- Petro-Canada UK Limited (2)
- Revus Energy (1)
- Statoil (10)
- Talisman Energy Norge (1)
- Total E & P Norge (2)
Offers to 26 licensees:
(number of ownership interests in brackets) - Altinex Oil (2)
- BG Norge (4)
- ConocoPhillips Skandinavia (1)
- DNO (5)
- DONG Norge (5)
- Endeavour Energy Norge (2)
- Eni Norge (5)
- E. ON Ruhrgas Norge (1)
- ExxonMobil Norway (3)
- Gaz de France (2)
- Idemitsu Petroleum Norge(3)
- Lundin Norway (2)
- Maersk Oil Norway (1)
- Norsk Hydro Produksjon (17)
- Norske Shell (2)
- Norwegian Energy Company (NORECO) (3)
- Paladin Resources Norge (2)
- Pertra (4)
- Petro-Canada UK Limited (5)
- Premier Oil Norge (5)
- Revus Energy (11)
- RWE Dea Norge (3)
- Statoil (16)
- Talisman Energy Norge (1)
- Total E & P Norge (4)
- Wintershall Norge (2)
19th licensing round
The application deadline for the 19th round expired on 15 November 2005. By then, 24 companies had applied for production licences. Awards are planned for the first quarter of 2006.
64 blocks or parts of blocks were announced in the 19th round. Of these, 34 are located in the Norwegian Sea and 30 in the Barents Sea. The blocks comprise an area of 24 451 km2.
The authorities have received applications for production licences from 24 companies, either individually or as part of a group of applicants (AMI):
- Amerada
- BG
- Chevron
- ConocoPhillips
- Discover Petroleum
- DNO
- DONG
- Eni
- Faroe Petroleum
- Gaz de France
- Hydro
- Idemitsu
- Lundin
- Marathon
- NORECO
- Premier Oil
- Revus
- RWE Dea
- Shell
- Statoil
- Svenska Petroleum
- Talisman
- Total
- Wintershall
Schedule for the 19th round:
14 Oct 2004 Invitation to nominate blocks
23 Feb 2005 Nomination deadline
16 June 2005 Announcement
15 Nov 2005 Application deadline
1st Quarter 2006 Awards
Contact in the NPD:
Eldbjørg Vaage Melberg, tel. +47 51 87 61 00
Updated: 04/09/2009