Our Arctic Neighbors: Forty-one bid in Norway’s latest license round

Forty-one companies applied for acreage under Norway’s 2010 Awards in Predefined Area licensing round, three less than for APA 2009, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, or NPD.

According to a Sept. 17 report in Offshore, pre-defined areas in the North, Norwegian and Barents seas were part of the offering, which closed on Sept. 15.

Offshore quoted Sissel Eriksen, NPD’s director for exploration, as saying, “Mature areas on the Norwegian shelf are interesting, particularly for the smaller oil companies. Proximity to existing facilities allows faster and more profitable development of small discoveries compared with developments in less mature areas of the shelf. The high price of oil in recent years is also a major contributing factor to the high level of exploration activity.”

Applicants were invited to bid for acreage totaling 31,467 square miles, spread over 302 blocks, a significant increase over APA 2009, Offshore reported, which was due to expansion of the pre-defined areas in the Barents and Norwegian seas by more than 8,726 square miles across a total of 63 blocks or part-blocks. Also, large tracts of acreage were relinquished within the APA 2009 area, which were re-offered in this year’s round.

The APA offerings are “designed to improve and speed up exploration of mature areas on the Norwegian shelf, to ensure that the industry has regular access to prospective acreage, and that acreage is turned over more quickly for potential new players. The government is also keen for resources discovered in these permits to be developed before existing production infrastructure is abandoned,” Offshore reported.