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21 Oil, Gas Companies Apply for New Production Licences on Norwegian Continental Shelf

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Norway's Energy Ministry on Friday said it has secured applications from 21 oil and gas companies, including energy majors like Shell (SHEL) and TotalEnergies (TTE), for the 2026 licensing round for new production licenses on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The awards in predefined areas, or APA, are Norway's annual licensing round for awarding new production licenses in unlicensed exploration areas on the Norwegian continental shelf.

APA 2026 was unveiled on May 5, and 21 companies applied for new production licenses by the Sep. 1 deadline, the Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry did not disclose the total number of applications for competitive reasons.

"The APA area is being expanded as geological knowledge in areas on the Norwegian shelf increases. In this year's licensing round, the predefined area was expanded in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea by a total of 70 blocks (or parts of blocks)," the statement said.

The Ministry intends to award new production licenses under the round in early 2027, the statement added.

Companies that have applied for the licenses include Norske Shell, Aker BP, Concedo, ConocoPhillips Skandinavia, DNO Norge, Equinor Energy (EQNR), Harbour Energy Norge, Inpex Idemitsu Norge, Japex Norge, Kistos Energy Norway, Lime Petroleum, Okea, OMV Norge, Orlen Upstream Norway, Pandion Energy, Petrolia Noco, Repsol Norge, Source Energy, TotalEnergies EP Norge, Var Energi, and Wellesley Petroleum.

Price: $96.82, Change: $+0.86, Percent Change: +0.90%

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