Norway’s oil history in 5 minutes
In the late 1950s, very few people believed that the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) might conceal rich oil and gas deposits. However, the discovery of gas at Groningen in the Netherlands in 1959 caused people to revise their thinking on the petroleum potential of the North Sea.
The service and supply industry
The service and supply industry is Norway’s second-largest industry measured in terms of turnover, after the oil and gas industry, and includes more than 1 250 companies. After more than 40 years of petroleum activities, the industry has developed cutting-edge expertise and is internationally competitive.
Licensing rounds
Licensing rounds entail that Norwegian and foreign oil companies are invited to apply for production licences for defined areas within a given deadline. Two equal licensing rounds have been established to achieve expedient exploration of both mature and frontier areas on the Norwegian shelf. All areas opened for petroleum activity can be announced in numbered licensing rounds or be included in the APA area.
Related topics and insights
What's new
Announcement of exploration area through APA 2022
Through the annual licensing round APA (allocations in predefined areas), the oil companies are given the opportunity to gain access to attractive exploration area on the Norwegian shelf. The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy ha announced this year's licensing round for APA 2022. The companies' application deadline in this licensing round is set for Monday 12th of September 2022 at 12.00.
Updated estimate for Norwegian gas deliveries in 2022
Based on production so far this year and the latest information on the coming months, the Norwegian authorities have updated the estimate for gas deliveries from the fields on the Norwegian shelf in 2022. The updated estimate for gas sales in 2022 is 122 billion Sm3. The majority of the increase is related to increased deliveries through the gas pipelines.
Latest news
- Adjusted production permits for several fields on the Norwegian shelf News story 06/07/2022
- Announcement of exploration area through APA 2022 Press release 15/06/2022
- Updated estimate for Norwegian gas deliveries in 2022 News story 18/05/2022
- An Energy Policy for Employment, Transition and security in times of uncertainty Press release 27/04/2022
- NTNU Energy Transition Conference Speech/statement 29/03/2022
- APA 2022 for public consultation: Facilitating further exploration Press release 17/03/2022
- Enabling high Norwegian Gas Production News story 16/03/2022
- APA 2021: Great interest in further exploration activity on the Norwegian shelf Press release 18/01/2022
Documents
NorwegianPetroleum.no
NorwegianPetroleum.no is published by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, and is a user-friendly, fact-based website where interested readers can learn more about Norwegian petroleum history, current activity, outlook and framework conditions.
Latest documents
- Meld. St. 14 (2020–2021) - Long-term Perspectives on the Norwegian Economy 2021 Report to the Storting 12/02/2021
- Meld. St. 20 (2019–2020) - Norway’s integrated ocean management plans — Barents Sea–Lofoten area; the Norwegian Sea; and the North Sea and Skagerrak Report to the Storting 24/04/2020
- Meld. St. 12 (2017–2018) – Health, safety and environment in the petroleum industry - Report to the Storting 06/04/2018