Offshore Norge – Climate and Environmental Report 2025

In 2024, a total of approximately 242 million Sm³ o.e. was produced, as shown in Figure 1. This is an increase of around 8 million Sm³ o.e. compared to 2023 and the highest level since 2009. Of this, oil accounted for approximately 103 million Sm³ o.e., gas 126 million Sm³, NGL 11 million Sm³ o.e. and condensate 1.3 million Sm³ o.e.

Figure 1: Historical petroleum production on the NCS

In 2024, 44 exploration wells were started (31 wildcat wells and 13 appraisal wells), as shown in Figure 2. In 2024, exploration activity was higher than in 2023. 42 exploration wells were completed, and 16 new discoveries were made on the NCS. The discoveries have a preliminary total estimate of 38 million standard cubic metres of recoverable oil equivalents. This means that the resource growth was somewhat lower than last year. In 2025, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate expects around 40 exploration wells in total, with 20–25 in the North Sea, 10–12 in the Norwegian Sea and 4–6 in the Barents Sea.

In the awards in predefined areas (APA 2024) in January 2025, the Ministry of Energy awarded shares in 53 new production licences to 20 companies. These are distributed as follows: 33 in the North Sea, 19 in the Norwegian Sea and 1 in the Barents Sea.

The Ministry of Energy submitted a proposal for the announcement of APA 2025 for consultation in January 2025. The Ministry stated that APA 2025 will be conducted according to the usual schedule, i.e. announcement in the first six months of the year with an application deadline in the third quarter and awards in January 2026.

Figure 2: Exploration wells started on the NCS (Source: the Norwegian Offshore Directorate).