Announcement of APA 2025

The annual licensing rounds in predefined areas (APA) provide oil companies with access to acreage in the most well-known and accessible petroleum areas on the continental shelf.

“We need to explore more, discover more, and produce more. That’s why it is important to ensure companies have stable access to exploration acreage. Never before has a larger area been announced in a licensing round. This is good for Norway and for Europe,” says Minister of Energy Terje Aasland.

The acreage included in the APA 2025 announcement represents approximately 75 percent of the area opened for petroleum activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The APA rounds are annual licensing rounds covering the most mature exploration areas. After more than 50 years of exploration, the APA scheme today encompasses most of the opened and accessible acreage on the shelf. These rounds are key in ensuring continued access to exploration acreage.

“The APA rounds are a cornerstone of the government’s petroleum policy. Continued exploration and new discoveries are essential to limit the decline in production on the continental shelf after 2030. This year’s expansion provides companies with access to significant new acreage in the Barents Sea, helping us further clarify the resource potential in the north,” Aasland says.

The announcement aligns with the proposed APA 2025 acreage that was subject to public consultation. Based on technical petroleum assessments, the APA area has been expanded this year to include a total of 76 blocks in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea.

“It is important to map the resource base in our most well-known exploration areas before existing infrastructure is phased out. I therefore urge the industry to take responsibility by identifying and applying for opportunities with significant resource potential — in addition to continuing near-infrastructure exploration,” Aasland says.

For APA 2025, the area has been expanded to include all or parts of 76 blocks — eight in the Norwegian Sea and 68 in the Barents Sea.

The application deadline for companies is Tuesday, 2 September at 12:00 CEST. The government aims to award new production licences for the announced areas at the beginning of 2026.

The full announcement text, updated maps of the announced blocks, HSE, environmental and fisheries considerations, and additional information are available on the Norwegian Offshore Directorate’s website.

Background on the APA Scheme

Norway’s oil and gas industry is the country’s largest and most important sector in terms of value creation, state revenue, exports, and investments. To maintain long-term activity, it is crucial to ensure continuous exploration. Exploration enables new discoveries, which in turn can be developed and help sustain production. In mature areas, new discoveries are important for optimising the use of production and transport infrastructure and for managing time-critical resources.

Petroleum activities in Norway are subject to stringent health, safety and environmental (HSE) requirements and environmental safeguards. Considerable emphasis is placed on ensuring coexistence with other industries.

The APA licensing rounds were introduced in 2003 to facilitate timely exploration of the geologically most well-known parts of the shelf. In these areas, expected discovery sizes are decreasing. Exploration typically targets smaller discoveries that may not justify stand-alone development but can be profitable when tied in with other discoveries or existing/planned infrastructure.

Timely exploration of these areas is therefore essential. Predictability in terms of which areas can be applied for in the APA, and regular replenishment of new acreage, are key to efficient exploration. APA rounds are thus held annually. In connection with each round, an assessment is made as to whether the APA area should be expanded. The area is gradually expanded as new areas become explored.

The APA process begins with a technical assessment by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate to determine whether the area should be expanded. The authorities then propose acreage considered technically mature for petroleum activity. Based on the long-standing definitions of mature and immature areas, this is operationalised using one or more of the following petroleum criteria:

• Acreage near existing or planned infrastructure, where any resources are considered time-critical.
• Acreage with exploration history, including previously awarded and relinquished acreage, known exploration models, and acreage between awarded and relinquished areas.
• Acreage bordering existing predefined areas not applied for in numbered licensing rounds.
• Consideration is also given to the need to maintain exploration and production activity on the continental shelf.

Based on technical petroleum assessments, the APA 2025 area has been expanded by 76 blocks or parts of blocks, including 68 in the Barents Sea and 8 in the Norwegian Sea. The proposed acreage includes areas with known exploration models and history, including previous wells, relinquished acreage, and acreage located geographically between awarded and relinquished areas. It also includes areas bordering existing predefined acreage.

Assessment of Consultation Input

The Ministry sent the proposal for the APA 2025 announcement to public consultation on 14 January with a deadline of 25 February.

The Storting last set the framework for petroleum activity during the consideration of the updated ocean management plans in 2024 (cf. Meld. St. 21 (2023–2024) and Innst. 375 S (2023–2024)). All licensing rounds on the shelf are conducted within these boundaries. The consultation requested input on whether any new, significant information had emerged that might affect decisions about where petroleum activity may take place, following the Storting’s review of the relevant management plan. This approach follows established practice (cf. Meld. St. 28 (2010–2011) and Innst. 143 S (2011–2012)).

The Ministry received 30 consultation responses from individuals, companies, organisations, government agencies, the Sámi Parliament and other ministries. All submissions have been reviewed and considered in the decision-making process for the APA 2025 announcement.

Several responses concerned petroleum activity and climate considerations. Norwegian climate policy is based on the principles of the UN-led climate cooperation, including the Paris Agreement. Emissions from the sector are subject to strict regulations, endorsed by the Storting. Within this framework, it is up to companies to explore, develop, and produce profitable resources. This consultation does not concern climate policy, but rather any new, significant information relevant to parliamentary decisions on petroleum activity areas. These comments fall outside the scope of the consultation and have been noted.

Some inputs addressed the APA scheme as such or the implementation of APA 2025. This was also beyond the mandate of the consultation, which was limited to new, significant information relevant to area decisions made by the Storting.

Other responses argued against parts of the announcement based on general environmental concerns, including related to particularly valuable and vulnerable areas (SVOs). These are known and previously assessed arguments that were considered when the current framework was adopted by the Storting. They are therefore not regarded as new or significant in the context of this consultation.

The Ministry also points out that the government presented a white paper (Meld. St. 21 (2023–2024)) with updated integrated ocean management plans on 5 April 2024, which was considered by the Storting on 13 June 2024 (Innst. 375 S (2023–2024)). Any new information was addressed in this process. The framework outlined in this white paper forms the basis for the APA 2025 announcement.

Fisheries considerations have been incorporated through the general terms in the licensing documents and applicable regulations. The same applies to shipping, shipwrecks, and possible cultural heritage.

APA 2025 is announced in accordance with the area proposal that was submitted for public consultation with a deadline of 25 February. No new, significant information relevant to the consultation’s mandate has emerged.

Read more about the announcement on the Norwegian Offshore Directorate website.