33家石油公司參與挪威許可證出售招標

Thirty-three oil companies have applied for exploration acreage offshore Norway as part of this year’s licensing round, the APA 2016, comprising the predefined areas with blocks in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea. This year’s licensing round, expanded by 24 blocks in the Norwegian Sea and 32 blocks in the Barents Sea, was launched in March. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), a government agency whose task is to manage the oil and gas resources on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, said on Wednesday that, following the expiration of the application deadline on September 6, 2016, the authorities had received applications from 33 companies. In this licensing round, companies could apply for a total of 139 942 square kilometers, while the available area in APA 2015 was 127 608 square kilometers. The number of applicants for APA 2016 is somewhat lower than for APA 2015 when 43 companies had applied.

The companies have applied for acreage on the whole shelf, but they are most interested in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea, the agency said.The agency said it will now start with the technical evaluation of the applications and it will also evaluate the applicants’ geological concepts and strategy for exploring the areas.