BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 13. Norway’s Equinor
has been awarded 35 new production licenses in this year’s Awards
in Predefined Areas (APA) licensing round, the company said,
strengthening its long-term exploration and production portfolio on
the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), Trend reports.
The licenses were granted by Norway’s Ministry of Energy and
cover acreage across the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the
Barents Sea. Equinor will act as operator for 17 of the licenses.
Twenty-one awards are located in the North Sea, ten in the
Norwegian Sea and four in the Barents Sea.
The new acreage includes both mature areas with existing
infrastructure and lesser-explored regions, reinforcing Equinor’s
strategy to sustain production and value creation on the NCS.
“We are very pleased with the APA round, which facilitates our
plans for a continued high level of exploration activity,” said Jez
Averty, Equinor’s senior vice president for subsurface on the
Norwegian continental shelf.
Equinor reported 14 discoveries in 2025, seven of which it
operated, corresponding to around 125 million barrels of
recoverable oil equivalent, with potential for additional
resources.
The company plans to drill between 20 and 30 exploration wells
annually. Around 80% of exploration will focus on areas near
existing infrastructure, while the remaining 20% will target new
concepts and lesser-known regions, including the northeastern North
Sea and the southwestern Møre Basin.
Equinor aims to develop six to eight new subsea projects
annually through 2035, a significant increase from current levels,
as new discoveries are needed to offset an expected production
decline.
As Europe’s largest energy supplier, Equinor said access to new
acreage is critical to maintaining stable production and
predictable energy deliveries to Europe during the energy
transition.
“There is still a lot of energy left on the NCS, but new
discoveries are essential to curb production decline and enable
tie-backs to existing infrastructure,” Averty said.
