Equinor secures 35 new production licences offshore Norway

Norway

STAVANGER, January 13, 2026 – Equinor has been awarded 35 new production licences across the Norwegian continental shelf in the latest licensing round, the company said on Monday.

The awards from the Ministry of Energy cover acreage in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea, with 17 of the licences operated by Equinor. The allocation supports Equinor’s strategy to maintain high exploration activity and production levels towards 2035.

“Access to new acreage is crucial for our ambition to maintain a high level of production and predictable energy deliveries to Europe from the NCS towards 2035,” said Jez Averty, Equinor’s senior vice-president for subsurface, the Norwegian continental shelf.

In 2025, Equinor made 14 discoveries—seven as operator—totalling around 125 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent. The company plans to drill 20-30 exploration wells annually, with 80 percent near existing infrastructure.

Equinor aims to maintain production from the NCS at around 1.2 million boepd of oil and gas through 2035, requiring continuous resource maturation and development of six to eight subsea projects per year.

Equinor is Norway’s state-backed energy company and Europe’s largest supplier of natural gas. The company operates across over 30 countries and plays a leading role in Europe’s energy security through its extensive offshore and gas infrastructure, including three gas processing plants and one LNG facility in Norway.