38 companies have submitted applications to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) under the framework of the 2018 Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) bidding round on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). In the APA 2018, the predefined area has been expanded by a total of 103 blocks, of which 47 in the Norwegian sea and 56 in the Barents sea. New production licenses will be awarded in the beginning of 2019. Bidders include majors such as Shell, ConocoPhillips, Eni, Total and Equinor (ex-Statoil).
In the previous round, the NPD awarded a total of 75 production licenses, of which 45 in the North sea, 22 in the Norwegian sea and 8 in the Barents sea. 34 companies were selected, out of which 198 with ownership interests. Equinor won the lion's share and gained interests in 31 licenses, of which 17 as the operator and 14 as a partner.
APA awards are located in mature areas and are one of two equal licensing rounds on the NCS. This auction scheme was introduced in 2003 and includes the geologically most mature parts of the NCS.
Do you want to become an expert on renewable energies auctions?
Discover our very detailed and regularly updated RES auctions database with worldwide coverage and a technical focus backed by academic research.
With our renewable energies auctions service you will be able to monitor auctions at a global level. Its (expanding) scope notably includes all major G20 countries and offers an especially fine tracking on Europe and South America.