The Ministry of Energy announced APA 2026 on 5 May 2026, encompassing the predefined areas with blocks in the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea.
The deadline to apply for APA 2026 is 12:00 noon on Tuesday, 1 September 2026.
Applicants are encouraged to submit in good time before the deadline.
Awards are expected during the first quarter of 2027.
Read all you need to know about APA 2026
Since APA 2025, the predefined areas (APA acreage) have been expanded by 22 blocks and parts of blocks in the North Sea, 10 blocks in the Norwegian Sea and 38 in the Barents Sea. Applications can be submitted for all available blocks or parts of blocks within the predefined areas.
Blocks or parts of blocks that become available less than 3 months prior to the application deadline, cannot be applied for. That means that all acreage approved for relinquishment in the period up to three months prior to the application deadline is considered to be announced as of the application deadline.
Relinquished area is included on a continuous basis in the predefined area on the Norwegian Offshore Directorate's interactive Factmap, and maps covering the final area that can be applied for will be provided as soon as practically possible.
The maps show licenced acreage within the APA boundaries as of May 5th 2026. These areas can change during the application period. The Norwegian Offshore Directorate's interactive FactMaps contain daily updated information showing the current area available for application.
Links
- Map of predefined areas at announcement date (PDF)
- Norwegian Offshore Directorate's interactive Factmap (updated from 5 May 2026)
- Open data included block coordinates for announced areas (updated from 5 May 2026)
- Award statistics (ZIP)
The maps show licenced acreage within the APA boundaries as of May 5th 2026. These areas can change during the application period. Our interactive FactMaps contain daily updated information showing the current area available for application.
Source: Norwegian Offshore Directorate
