Statoil receives 14 licenses during APA round
Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe (Photo: Lise Rist / OED)Forty companies walked away with shares in 51 new production licenses as part of Norway’s 2012 APA Round, the country’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe announced on 15 January 2013.
Norway's MPE said that 47 companies applied for licenses during the APA 2012 Round. Of the 51 licenses offered, 35 are in the North Sea, 13 in the Norwegian Sea and three are located in the Barents Sea.
"I am pleased to see strong, broad-based interest in the most well-known parts of the continental shelf," Moe said. "This year's licensing round confirms that Norway's combination of framework conditions and geological opportunities is internationally competitive."
Norway's own Statoil was the round's biggest winner, collecting 14 production licenses, seven of which the firm will serve as operator.
"Statoil strongly believes in the NCS exploration potential, and during the last years the company has further confirmed this potential by making a number of exciting oil and gas discoveries," said Gro Gunleiksrud Haatvedt, senior vice president for exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf. "We have the knowledge and the expertise, and we are well prepared for taking on new exploration assignments."
Of Statoil's 14 production licenses, eight are located in the Northern North Sea and King Lear areas. Of those eight, Statoil will operate five.
"Access to new quality acreage is an essential prerequisite for further value creation through exploration activities and for maintaining the NCS production level beyond 2020,” Haatvedt said in a press release.
In all, 23 firms were offered operatorships including Total, Shell, Wintershall and Centrica.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has stipulated that the licenses are subject to certain requirements including "drill or drop" conditions, meaning that a company has from one to three years to drill or well or the license lapses. Other licenses will require operators to acquire new seismic data in eight areas.
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