Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has shed light on the expanded award in pre-defined areas 2026 (APA 2026) round for oil and gas exploration activity, encompassing predefined areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), with blocks in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea.

The Norwegian Ministry of Energy announced APA 2026 on May 5, 2026, which is being enlarged by 70 new blocks in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea. The deadline to apply for this licensing round is 12:00 noon on Tuesday, September 1, 2026. The awards are expected during the first quarter of 2027.  

Jonas Gahr Støre, Norway’s Prime Minister, commented: “Norway’s oil and gas industry is vital to Norway and to Europe. Today, the Government is announcing new exploration acreage in APA in order to further develop the petroleum sector, so that it can continue to create substantial value for society, provide the basis for good jobs throughout the country, safeguard our common welfare, and contribute to Europe’s energy security and safety.”

The APA annual licensing round covers the most mature exploration areas on the NCS, giving oil companies predictability regarding access to exploration acreage, which is important for a long-term industry such as petroleum activities. The announcement includes acreage that companies nominated for the 26th licensing round in autumn 2025.

Terje Aasland, Norway’s Minister of Energy, outlined: “Annual licensing rounds and good, stable and predictable framework conditions are essential to achieving the objectives of Norway’s petroleum policy.

“This is why today’s announcement, and the related expansion of the APA area are important. It is important that the industry also seek new, larger opportunities in these areas in the time ahead. Not instead of exploration near existing infrastructure, but in addition to it.”

Norway’s oil and gas industry is described as the country’s largest and most important industry for value creation, state revenues, exports, and investments. As a result, continuity in exploration is deemed important to maintain activity over time, creating opportunities for discoveries that can be developed to help maintain activity and production.

Making additional discoveries is also important in mature areas to achieve good utilization of capacity in production and transport facilities, alongside sound management of time-critical resources. The APA awards were introduced in 2003 to facilitate the timely exploration of the geologically most mature parts of the shelf.

Since expected discovery sizes are declining, exploration is largely aimed at smaller discoveries that cannot justify stand-alone development, but can be highly profitable when seen in the context of other discoveries and/or by making use of existing or planned infrastructure.

Based on petroleum-related assessments, the area for APA 2026 is being expanded by 70 blocks or parts of blocks, including 38 blocks in the Barents Sea, 10 blocks in the Norwegian Sea, and 22 blocks in the North Sea.

This expansion includes acreage with known exploration models and exploration history, acreage that has been relinquished, and acreage located geographically between awarded and relinquished acreage. It also includes acreage bordering existing predefined areas.

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