Norway: no new oil licenses in virgin areas before 2025

Norway will not offer new oil exploration licenses in virgin areas until 2025.

Share:

Norway, now Europe’s largest supplier of natural gas, will not offer new oil exploration licenses in virgin or little-explored areas until 2025 under a political compromise.

In negotiations to pass its 2023 budget proposal, the center-left minority government agreed to a request from the Socialist Left (SV), a small, backbone party that has made climate urgency one of its key issues.

The compromise is that there will be no so-called “regular” concession round by the end of the current term, 2025.

Since 1965, this mechanism has allowed oil companies to apply for exploration in areas of the Norwegian continental shelf that were previously little or not explored.

As the North Sea has been extensively prospected, the measure now mainly concerns the waters of the Barents Sea in the Arctic, which is likely to contain the largest hydrocarbon reserves yet to be discovered in the country.

“SV had this at heart, they got their way,” said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at a press conference.

However, the agreement does not exclude the award of oil licenses in so-called mature areas.

Although the chances of discovering large deposits are slimmer, these areas, which are already largely exploited, remain attractive to the oil industry because it is easier and less expensive to develop new potential resources from existing facilities.

There was no regular round of concessions this year either, due to another compromise reached last year between the government and the socialist left in the previous budget negotiations.

The Anglo-Dutch company maintains its oil and gas operations on the African continent, betting on offshore exploration and the reactivation of onshore fields, while the institutional and regulatory context remains uncertain.
The expansion of the global oil and gas fishing market is accelerating on the back of offshore projects, with annual growth estimated at 5.7% according to The Insight Partners.
The Competition Bureau has required Schlumberger to divest major assets to finalise the acquisition of ChampionX, thereby reducing the risks of market concentration in Canada’s oilfield services sector. —
Saturn Oil & Gas Inc. confirms the acquisition of 1,608,182 common shares for a total amount of USD3.46mn, as part of its public buyback offer in Canada, resulting in a reduction of its free float.
OPEC slightly adjusts its production forecasts for 2025-2026 while projecting stable global demand growth, leaving OPEC+ significant room to increase supply without destabilizing global oil markets.
Talks between European Union member states stall on the adoption of the eighteenth sanctions package targeting Russian oil, due to ongoing disagreements over the proposed price ceiling.
Three new oil fields in Iraqi Kurdistan have been targeted by explosive drones, bringing the number of affected sites in this strategic region to five in one week, according to local authorities.
An explosion at 07:00 at an HKN Energy facility forced ShaMaran Petroleum to shut the Sarsang field while an inquiry determines damage and the impact on regional exports.
The Canadian producer issues USD 237 mn in senior notes at 6.875 % to repay bank debt, repurchase USD 73 mn of 2027 notes and push most of its maturity schedule to 2030.
BP revised upwards its production forecast for the second quarter of 2025, citing stronger-than-expected results from its US shale unit. However, lower oil prices and refinery maintenance shutdowns weighed on overall results.
Belgrade is engaged in complex negotiations with Washington to obtain a fifth extension of sanctions relief for the Serbian oil company NIS, which is majority-owned by Russian groups.
European Union ambassadors are close to reaching an agreement on a new sanctions package aimed at reducing the Russian oil price cap, with measures impacting several energy and financial sectors.
Backbone Infrastructure Nigeria Limited is investing $15bn to develop a 500,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Ondo State, a major project aimed at boosting Nigeria’s refining capacity.
The Central Energy Fund’s takeover of the Sapref refinery introduces major financial risks for South Africa, with the facility still offline and no clear restart strategy released so far.
PetroTal Corp. records production growth in the second quarter of 2025, improves its cash position and continues replacing key equipment at its main oil sites in Peru.
An explosion caused by a homemade explosive device in northeastern Colombia has forced Cenit, a subsidiary of Ecopetrol, to temporarily suspend operations on the strategic Caño Limón-Coveñas pipeline, crucial to the country's oil supply.
Occidental Petroleum announces a decrease in its production in the Gulf of Mexico in the second quarter, citing third-party constraints, extended maintenance, and scheduling delays.
U.S. legislation eases access to federal lands for oil production, but fluctuations in crude prices may limit concrete impacts on investment and medium-term production, according to industry experts.
Permex Petroleum Corporation has completed a US$2mn fundraising by issuing convertible debentures, aimed at strengthening its cash position, without using intermediaries, and targeting a single institutional investor.
Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) recorded $17.52bn in export sales in 2024, benefiting from increased volumes due to U.S. licences granted to foreign partners, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.