Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has announced the Awards in Predefined Areas 2017, comprising predefined areas with blocks in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea.
The application deadline for APA 2017 is mignight on Friday 1 September 2017. The awards will be announced during Q1 2018.
The predefined areas (APA acreage) have been expanded with 34 blocks in the Norwegian Sea and 53 blocks in the Barents Sea since APA 2016. Applications can be submitted for any blocks or parts of blocks within the predefined areas that are not already included in a license three months before the closing date for application.
This entails that acreage which is relinquished in the application period is regarded as announced at the time of governmental approved relinquishment. The acreage will be included consecutively in the predefined areas on Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's interactive fact maps until 1 June 2017, three months before the closing date for application.