Norway has issued North Sea licences to 38 companies after the latest round of exploration and production announcements across the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
A record total of 65 new production licences were issued in the awards round, which focused on mature areas across the continental shelf.
The licences were split across the Barents Sea, with eight, and 19 in the Norwegian Sea, with the rest on the Norwegian side of the North Sea boundary.
50 firms applied for production licences, with 49 being offered shares in at least one of them.
It comes after a record number of licences were also issued in the UK at the end of November.
“This is a new record, both in the number of production licences and the number of companies,” said Norwegian energy minister Tord Lien.
“The awards provide a good basis for further exploration of some of the most well-established exploration areas on the Norwegian shelf.”
Among those landing licences were Dana Petroleum, EnQuest and Total, with Wintershall picking up five new operators offers – including in a previously disputed region of the Barents Sea.
Sissel Eriksen, exploration director with Norway’s petroleum directorate, said the licence round showed support remained for exploiting the shelf’s resources, particularly in the North Sea.
“It is clear that the oil companies still consider it interesting to explore for oil and gas in mature areas,” she said.
“We see that a lot of good work has been put into most applications, and some have submitted very interesting exploration concepts.
“The level of the applications was generally very high, and nearly everyone who applied in APA 2013 will receive ownership interests.”
The offers are subject to requirement to provide new seismic data in 11 of the areas, while the others face drill or drop conditions giving firms up to three years to decide whether or not to drill an exploration well.
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