The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has offered ownership interests in 83 production licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) to 33 companies in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2018. This is the largest number ever awarded in one licensing round. Out of the 83 production licenses, 37 are located in the North Sea, 32 in the Norwegian Sea, and 14 in the Barents Sea. 8 of them are in fact additional acreage to existing production licenses.
Norwegian state-run oil and gas company Equinor was the largest winner in the round: it will take part to 29 new licenses (7 in the North Sea, 16 in the Norwegian Sea, and 6 in the Barents Sea), of which 13 as operator and 16 as partner. The second largest winner is the oil exploration and development company Aker BP, which won 21 licences: 12 licenses in the North Sea (5 as operator), 3 in the in the Norwegian Sea (2 as operator), and 6 in the Barents Sea (4 as operator). Lundin will take part to 15 licences, of which 9 as operator.
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 as well and gained interests in 31 licenses, of which 17 as the operator and 14 as a partner.