A production licence is normally awarded to a group of companies headed by a designated operator. Including several companies in one licence enables less experienced companies to learn from those with more experience, and the different companies can control the operator’s activities and together ensure that the best possible decisions are made.
At the end of 2022, a total of 39 exploration and production companies were active on the Norwegian shelf: 18 companies as operators and a further 21 as partners in production licences. The diversity of companies of all sizes promotes competition and efficiency. It also ensures interest in different types of projects, and implementation of different kinds of new and cost-effective technologies.
| Company name | #licensees | #operatorships | #operatorships fields | #operatorships discoveries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A/S Norske Shell | 19 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Aker BP ASA | 184 | 125 | 20 | 31 |
| Concedo AS | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS | 41 | 17 | 9 | 10 |
| DNO Norge AS | 75 | 13 | 1 | 1 |
| Equinor Energy AS | 293 | 208 | 62 | 181 |
| Harbour Energy Norge AS | 17 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS | 34 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| KUFPEC Norway AS | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| LOTOS Exploration and Production Norge AS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lime Petroleum AS | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Longboat Energy Norge AS | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M Vest Energy AS | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mime Petroleum AS | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Neptune Energy Norge AS | 53 | 17 | 3 | 6 |
| OKEA ASA | 41 | 22 | 2 | 6 |
| OMV (Norge) AS | 35 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| PGNiG Upstream Norway AS | 89 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Pandion Energy AS | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Petoro AS | 178 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Petrolia NOCO AS | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Repsol Norge AS | 13 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
| Source Energy AS | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sval Energi AS | 66 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| TotalEnergies EP Norge AS | 56 | 7 | 2 | 3 |
| Vår Energi ASA | 148 | 47 | 5 | 15 |
| Wellesley Petroleum AS | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Wintershall Dea Norge AS | 91 | 25 | 4 | 7 |