Norway hands out 47 oil and gas exploration permits

Norway has awarded 47 exploration blocks to 25 energy companies in its 2022 oil and gas licensing round, the Minister of Energy Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland announced on Tuesday.

Norwegian NOC Equinor was the largest winner in the round, with stakes in 26 of the licences and operating stake in 18. The company plans to participate in 25 exploration wells in 2023.

Aker BP won stakes in 17 licences in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea of which it will operate nine.

Vaar Energi acquired shares in 12 concessions in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea and will operate five.

Wintershall Dea took home 11 new permits of which it will operate three. Four of these permits are located in the North Sea, with the two operated assets in this cluster located next to Wintershall Dea’s operated Vega and Nova fields. The seven others are located in the Norwegian Sea.

Other companies who acquired stakes in the round include Chrysaor, Concedo, ConocoPhillips, DNO, Inpex, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company, Lime Petroleum, Longboat Energy, Lotos Exploration & Production, M Vest Energy, Neptune Energy Group, Okea, OMV, Pandion Energy, Petrolia Noco, Shell, Source Energy, PGNiG Upstream Norway, Sval Energi, TotalEnergies and Wellesley Petroleum.

All acquired drilling permits are owned by multiple companies.

According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, the country’s oil production is expected to grow by 6.9% in 2023 while gas production will remain stable.