Equinor awarded 26 licences on Norwegian continental shelf

Norwegian energy company Equinor has won 26 new production licences on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) as an operator and partner for further exploration, it announced late Tuesday.

The company was awarded 12 licences as operator and 14 as partner by Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in the annual award in predefined areas (APA) round. Of the total 26 licenses, 12 are in the North Sea, 10 in the Norwegian Sea, and four in the Barents Sea.

Norway has offered 28 companies ownership interests in a total of 53 offshore oil and gas production licenses on the Norwegian Shelf under APA 2021.

“Exploration is essential to secure continued value creation on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The APA rounds are very important to us and we are pleased about the award of new production licences,” said Jez Averty, Equinor’s senior vice president for subsurface in Exploration & Production Norway in a statement.

Equinor said in a statement that in 2022, it plans to take part in around 25 exploration wells, mainly near existing infrastructure. Most of the wells will be drilled in the North Sea, some in the Norwegian Sea and a few in the Barents Sea.