Norway, the LNG producer whose export plant at Hammerfest is still offline after last year’s fire, has offered four production licences in the Government’s 25th licensing round split between seven energy companies and with one block located in the Norwegian Sea and three in the Barents Sea.
The 25th licensing round is facilitating exploration and production activity on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
“This is important for employment and value creation in the Norwegian oil and gas industry,” said Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tina Bru.
“The (licence) allocations are in line with the goals we presented in the White Paper Energy for Work. They are also an important part of the framework conditions for the companies on the NCS,” added Minister Bru.
The 25th licensing round had been announced on November 19, 2020 and the application deadline was February 23, 2021.
Companies could apply for licences in nine different areas, eight in the Barents Sea and one in the Norwegian Sea.
The successful companies have committed to acquiring 3D seismic surveys and to initiate some wildcat drilling.
Two licences were awarded to Norwegian state-backed company Equinor, operator of Hammerfest LNG, now shut until March 2022 after the fire on September 28 in 2020.
The first Equinor licence (50 percent stake and operator) is in partnership with state company Petoro AS (20 percent), Sweden-based company Lundin Energy (20 percent) and Idemitsu Petroleum, part of the Idemitsu Group of Japan (10 percent).
The sole Norwegian Sea licence went to the UK’s Ineos (60 percent) and in partnership with Royal Dutch Shell.
Their 1055-B block is located between two previous large natural gas finds.
The two other Barents Sea licences were awarded to Equinor with Lundin Energy and Petero, and one went to Austria’s OMV (30 percent) with Vår Energi (70 percent and operator), a joint venture between Italy’s Eni and the private equity investor HitecVision.
