The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has awarded four production licenses in the 25th licensing round of the Awards in predefined Areas (APA) round to Norske Shell, Equinor, Idemitsu Petroleum Norway, INEOS E&P Norway, Lundin, OMV (Norway) and Vår Energi. One production license is located in the Norwegian Sea and three in the Arctic Barents Sea. Companies could apply for licenses in nine different areas: eight in the Arctic Barents Sea and one in the Norwegian Sea.
In June 2020, Norway extended its forbidden area for oil exploration in the country’s Arctic waters (so-called ice edge boundary). The new limit is located where sea ice appeared 15% of the time in April from 1988 to 2017, whereas the previous boundary was based on 30% probability and the years between 1967 and 1989. The new line remains sufficiently far north and doesn't affect existing explorations licences.
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