INPEX has been offered eight production license awards in Norway through its subsidiary INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS (IIN) as part of the Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2024. The awarded licenses are PL 1263, PL 318 D (an extension of PL 318), PL 1264, PL 1257 and PL 636 D (an extension of PL 636) located between the northern North Sea and the southern Norwegian Sea, and PL 1276, PL 1274, PL 1194 C (an extension of PL 1194) located in the northern Norwegian Sea. The annual APA licensing rounds aim to promote further oil and gas exploration in previously explored areas by allowing applications to be submitted for any acreage within predefined areas where production licenses have not been awarded or where previous licenses have been surrendered. IIN was offered licenses PL 1263 and PL 1264 as operator, bringing the total number of licenses operated by IIN to three.

IIN owns interests in numerous licenses in the northern Norwegian Sea, northern North Sea and Barents Sea. The company is involved in stable production operations at the Snorre and Fram oil fields in the northern North Sea while actively promoting exploration activities. The eight licenses most recently offered will contribute to the further expansion of INPEX Norwegian business portfolio considering the future potential of jointly developing these assets with existing assets in the surrounding area.

Furthermore, through the offer of two license awards as operator, INPEX aims to enhance IIN’s operational capabilities and actively promote its business in Norway.

The licenses are also expected to enhance the resilience of INPEX’s upstream business, which is one of the initiatives outlined in the INPEX Vision @2022 announced in February 2022. Through IIN, INPEX will continue to actively engage in the exploration, development and production of natural gas and crude oil in Norway.

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Source: INPEX