BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 13. Norway’s Equinor has been awarded 35 new production licenses in this year’s Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) licensing round, the company said, strengthening its long-term exploration and production portfolio on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS), Trend reports.
The licenses were granted by Norway’s Ministry of Energy and cover acreage across the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. Equinor will act as operator for 17 of the licenses. Twenty-one awards are located in the North Sea, ten in the Norwegian Sea and four in the Barents Sea.
The new acreage includes both mature areas with existing infrastructure and lesser-explored regions, reinforcing Equinor’s strategy to sustain production and value creation on the NCS.
“We are very pleased with the APA round, which facilitates our plans for a continued high level of exploration activity,” said Jez Averty, Equinor’s senior vice president for subsurface on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Equinor reported 14 discoveries in 2025, seven of which it operated, corresponding to around 125 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, with potential for additional resources.
The company plans to drill between 20 and 30 exploration wells annually. Around 80% of exploration will focus on areas near existing infrastructure, while the remaining 20% will target new concepts and lesser-known regions, including the northeastern North Sea and the southwestern Møre Basin.
Equinor aims to develop six to eight new subsea projects annually through 2035, a significant increase from current levels, as new discoveries are needed to offset an expected production decline.
As Europe’s largest energy supplier, Equinor said access to new acreage is critical to maintaining stable production and predictable energy deliveries to Europe during the energy transition.
“There is still a lot of energy left on the NCS, but new discoveries are essential to curb production decline and enable tie-backs to existing infrastructure,” Averty said.