”New exploration is crucial,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said as he announced the news in Stavanger on Tuesday morning.
At a meeting with top executives from several major oil companies, he announced that the government is now opening 70 new blocks for licensing in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea.
The announcement is being made through the annual APA (awards in predefined areas) licensing round.
”We are ready to open APA 2026 with significant expansions of access to acreage and to facilitate further exploration on the Norwegian shelf,” Støre told the oil executives.
38 of the new blocks are located in the Barents Sea, 10 in the Norwegian Sea, and 22 in the North Sea.
”There has never been more available acreage”
Last year’s announcement was historically large, with 75 blocks receiving the green light in the licensing round. Following this year’s expansion, the APA scheme covers the majority of the area that has been opened and is available on the Norwegian continental shelf.
”There has never been more exploration area available on the Norwegian shelf than right now,” said energy minister Terje Aasland, who also participated in the meeting.
He urged oil executives to ask their exploration departments to explore.
”Just ask the exploration people to explore,” Aasland said.
He also noted that production on the Norwegian shelf is now expected to decline after 2030, a trend the government is trying to mitigate.
“New discoveries are absolutely essential then. That’s what it all hinges on. That’s why a steady supply of prospective exploration acreage is a cornerstone of petroleum policy,” said the energy minister.
Underway with the regular licensing round
In addition to the APA rounds, new areas on the shelf are announced through the regular licensing rounds. There has not been such a round since the 25th licensing round in 2020.
Last fall, Norway’s government began work on a 26th licensing round but has since put it on hold.
The government now states that areas companies nominated for the 26th licensing round last fall are instead included in the announcements for this year’s APA round.
”Therefore, a 26th licensing round will not be held in 2026. The Ministry is continuing its work on the 26th licensing round,” the government states.
Aasland’s call to the oil industry
Tuesday’s meeting in Stavanger is the first of four consultation meetings the government will hold with various sectors of the business community.
Representatives from the oil, gas, and supplier industries attended the meeting.
The Minister of Energy says that annual licensing rounds and predictable framework conditions are crucial.
“It is important that the industry also looks for new, larger opportunities in these areas going forward. Not instead of exploration near existing infrastructure, but in addition to it,” Aasland says. The deadline for companies to submit applications for APA 2026 is September 1. The government plans to award new production licenses in the announced areas early next year.
”Who knows? A month before Johan Sverdrup was discovered, no one could have imagined that something so big could happen. We also have areas left to explore,” the Prime Minister said at the meeting.
MDG: Backward into the Future
The Labor Party’s budget partners, the Green Party (MDG) and the Socialist Left Party (SV), are deeply disappointed by the expansion.
“Completely unacceptable,” says Lars Haltbrekken of the SV.
“In the previous term, SV succeeded in halting oil production in large parts of the vulnerable ice-edge zone.” I am very disappointed that the Labour Party now wants to open this up again, he writes in an email to NTB.
MDG calls the expansion dangerous, irresponsible, and embarrassing. Moreover, they maintain demand will plummet once the EU achieves its climate goals of a 90% reduction in emissions by 2040.
“The market is moving away from oil and gas, and opening 70 new blocks for oil exploration now is like walking backward into the future,” says energy policy spokesperson Frøya Skjold Sjursæther.
The environmental foundation Zero is not particularly impressed either.
“We don’t solve a fossil fuel crisis by exploring for more oil and gas in immature areas like the Barents Sea. The government should instead take into account the need to transition the Norwegian economy and help solve the world’s fossil fuel dependency, not reinforce it,” says Zero program director Anne Post-Melbye.
”Must explore more”
The Conservative Party is very pleased with the expansion. Norwegian oil and gas are crucial for European energy security, says energy policy spokesperson Aleksander Stokkebø.
”If Norway is to continue as a stable and reliable supplier, we must explore more, in both known and new areas,” says Stokkebø. He emphasizes that work on the 26th licensing round must continue so that there can be activity in more areas going forward.
The Progress Party (Frp) thinks things aren’t moving fast enough.
“Aasland is responding to the biggest crisis in the global energy market at a snail’s pace on the Norwegian shelf. The government pretends to be decisive with new blocks, but isn’t opening anything until next year. For European energy security, this is putting the brakes on—it is awards that trigger activity, not press releases,” says Frp member Kristoffer Sivertsen.