Record high interest in oil exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf

oil industry climateOil industry.Photo: pixabay.com

The interest among oil companies to pursue exploration on the Norwegian continental shelf has never been as great as now.

 

Not since the allocation in predefined area scheme (TFO) was established in 2003, has more exploration applications been received than this year, reports the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

 

When the application deadline expired on September 1, applications from 39 companies had been received to be granted permission for exploration in the predefined areas on the Norwegian continental shelf.

 

The number of applications received this year is about twice as many as last year, and about 20 percent higher than the previous record of the 2014 TFO rounds.

 

The predefined area has been expanded in this round both in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea.

 

Allotment in predefined areas (TFO) is the annual licensing round for the best known exploration areas on the Norwegian continental shelf.

 

“The great interest shows that oil and gas companies perceive the Norwegian continental shelf as attractive, but it does not come from itself.

 

In these election campaigns it is important that the political parties promise to maintain stable framework conditions for industry, “says Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen, Managing Director of Norwegian oil and gas.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today