News Oil & Gas

Spirit wins new North Sea-Norwegian Sea licences

Spirit Energy has won three new licences in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2020 round in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea.

Exploration: Spirit Energy needs more acreage particularly near existing infrastructure and in mature areas (Kristina Kasputienė Pixabay)

Production Licence 1049 B is in the North Sea where the operator is Equinor (40%) and partners are Petoro (20%) and Spirit Energy (20%).

Production Licence 1112 is in the Norwegian Sea. The operator is Shell (40%) with partners DNO (20%), Neptune (20%) and Spirit Energy (20%).

Production Licence 836 SB is also in the Norwegian Sea. The operator is Wintershall Dea (40%) and the partners are DNO (30%) and Spirit Energy (30%).

Spirit Energy exploration manager Marianne Bruvoll said the company needed more exploration acreage, particularly close to existing infrastructure and in mature areas. 

“It is still possible to make significant discoveries in mature areas of the NCS. In 2020, 31 exploration wells were spudded in Norway. This resulted in 14 discoveries, seven in both the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea. We [were] a partner in one of the largest oil discoveries last year, Bergknapp.

“The APA arrangement is important to maintain a steady exploration level on the NCS and to create value.”

A total of 30 companies have received offers of ownership interests in 61 production licences on the Norwegian Shelf in the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2020. The authorities assessed applications from 33 companies during autumn 2020.

Of the 61 production licences, 34 are in the North Sea, 24 are in the Norwegian Sea and three in the Barents Sea. Twelve of the production licences are additional acreage to existing production licences.