On 8 February 2008 the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy announced that it is offering a total of 52 licences under the Awards in Predefined Areas 2007 (APA 2007). 24 of the licences lie in the North Sea, with 21 in the Norwegian Sea and the remaining seven in the Barents Sea.
113 applications were submitted by the deadline on 28 September 2007. The Ministry states that there is a large potential for proving new, smaller resources close to existing infrastructure in the mature areas of the NCS, which explains the extensive interest in the APA rounds. The Ministry has laid down conditions for rapid exploration and progress towards a possible plan for development and operation for the potential resources to be found in the licences, to ensure an effective exploration of oil and gas in the mature areas on the shelf.
Map: Showing blocks awarded in APA 2007 (red shading). Source: PetroView
For deeper insight, read the full article on the Deloitte Petroleum Services website.