Our Arctic Neighbors: Norway seeks industry’s offshore preferences

The Norwegian government has invited oil companies to nominate blocks that ought to be included in the 21st licensing round on the Norwegian continental shelf, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy said in a release Nov. 5. The invitations have been sent to all licensees on the shelf and prequalified companies. Numbered licensing rounds include mainly frontier areas of the Norwegian continental shelf with potential for large discoveries, the ministry noted.

“With the 21st licensing round I seek to give the oil industry access to attractive areas which are less explored,” said Terje Riis-Johansen, the petroleum and energy minister. “It is important to provide the industry access to frontier areas through predictable licensing rounds. This contributes to maintaining the activity level on the Norwegian continental shelf and securing the shelf’s attractiveness. The nominated areas will hopefully contribute to long-term value creation in the petroleum industry.”

The companies’ nominations will be an important factor in the government’s decisions on the 21st licensing round, the ministry said. The announcement is scheduled to take place before summer 2010 and awards of new production licenses are planned for spring 2011. The deadline for submitting nominations is Jan. 13, 2010.

In April 2009 the government awarded 21 new production licenses in the 20th licensing round, including nine in the Barents Sea and 12 in the Norwegian Sea. Thirty-four companies were offered participating interests in production licenses and 15 were offered operatorships. The government has recently been increasing public participation in the offshore licensing process.

—Sarah Hurst