Norwegian Offshore Directorate

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate was established in 1972 and is a state-level specialist directorate and public administrative body reporting to Norway's Ministry of Energy.

More Info on Norwegian Offshore Directorate

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) changed its name to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) in January 2024. The name change reflects that the Directorate has been tasked with additional responsibilities in recent years associated with CO2 storage (CCS), offshore wind and seabed minerals.

The NOD says its primary objective is to contribute to the greatest possible values for society from the oil and gas activities through efficient and prudent resource management, where due consideration is given to HSE and other users of the ocean.

Information accurate as of June 2024. 

News

Courtesy Transocean
Transocean Enabler offshore drilling rig
The discovery could provide additional volumes for one of Norway's newest Arctic oil developments.
July 24, 2026
Courtesy Lizette Bertelsen & Jonny Engelsvoll/Equinor
Johan Sverdrup field
A taskforce at the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has begun investigating the feasibility of applying advanced techniques at certain fields with a profitable outcome.
April 15, 2026
Courtesy Norwegian Offshore Directorate
Gro structure illustration
The field, discovered by Shell in 2009, is one of Norway’s largest, but with major uncertainty over recoverable volumes. Results from a recent subsurface study will be made available...
April 8, 2026
Courtesy A/S Norske Shell
Illustration: Profitable development of tight reservoirs
The new initiative, supported by the Energy Ministry, advocates increased adoption of new technologies for drilling operations to sustain Norway’s production going forward.
March 10, 2026
Courtesy Norwegian Offshore Directorate
Offshore drilling illustration
The oil and gas discovery appears to have sufficient volumes for a future tie-in to the Gullfaks area offshore infrastructure.
Feb. 17, 2026
Courtesy OKEA
offshore Brage project
The OKEA-operated development well, which came onstream earlier this month, also encountered a new, potentially commercial hydrocarbon accumulation named Knockando Fensfjord. ...
Jan. 30, 2026
ID 11024189 © Trondur | Dreamstime.com
offshore oil and gas operations in the north sea
Aside from fewer wells, the outlook is for steadily decreasing investments with few large new field developments in prospect, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate’s...
Jan. 12, 2026
Courtesy Norwegian Offshore Directorate
Transocean Norge rig
The two wells proved small quantities of gas and condensate, which could be developed via existing facilities serving the Vega Field.
Dec. 19, 2025
Courtesy Øyvind Hagen/Equinor
Troll B
Equinor should shortly start exporting gas from the Troll B platform in the North Sea via a newly installed pipeline connected to the existing Kvitebjørn gas export system.
Sept. 25, 2025
Courtesy Norwegian Offshore Directorate
Map of APA 2025
The process had been expanded this year to include 68 further blocks in the Barents Sea and eight blocks in the Norwegian Sea, with awards set to be announced early in 2026.
Sept. 5, 2025

Articles

Courtesy Norwegian Offshore Directorate
Transocean Norge semisubmersible rig
OMV Norge has completed a successful exploration drilling campaign in PL 1194 in the Norwegian Sea.
Aug. 23, 2024
ID 128055867 © Nataliya Nazarova | Dreamstime.com
Oil and gas offshore Norway
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) predicts that Norway’s offshore oil and gas production will start to decline after 2025.
Aug. 22, 2024
Courtesy Norwegian Offshore Directorate
sodir_css
Awards of such areas is a prerequisite for large-scale carbon capture and storage.
June 7, 2024
Courtesy Norwegian Offshore Directorate
structural map
The Norwegian Ministry of Energy has expanded acreage available in the Barents Sea under the current APA license round by 34 blocks.
June 6, 2024
Photo 104906114 © Seadam | Dreamstime.com
seabed_minerals_
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate has entered a memorandum of understanding to collaborate with Greenland and Denmark on acquiring new data on seabed minerals.
April 16, 2024
Courtesy Saipem
Saipem’s Scarabeo 8 semisub drilling rig is able to manage up to six 80-T christmas trees simultaneously.
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) has authorized Aker BP to drill three exploration wells in the Barents Sea, using Saipem’s semisub Scarabeo 8.
Feb. 29, 2024
Photo 52690583 © Curraheeshutter | Dreamstime.com
offshore_oil_and_gas
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate wants to see more active exploration of frontier areas to realize more of the resource potential. That means a commitment to testing new ideas...
Jan. 29, 2024
Courtesy NPD
The NPD map highlights oil and gas in place in tight reservoirs distributed by ocean area (data as of Dec. 6). All figures are stated in million standard cubic meters of oil equivalent.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate is urging E&P companies to find ways of harnessing gas in tight reservoirs across the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Dec. 7, 2023
Courtesy NPD
offshore_wind_npd
Data from the subsurface surveys in the first phase of Sørlige Nordsjø II (Southern North Sea II) are now ready for download from Diskos.
Nov. 15, 2023
Photo 43762359 © Anupong Nantha | Dreamstime.com
Offshore Oil Gas
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) is making publicly available nearly 6,000 datasets from relinquished areas across the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
Oct. 2, 2023

Additional content from Norwegian Offshore Directorate

Courtesy Norwegian Offshore Directorate
Map highlights well 6506/12-PB-3 H
The discovery could be connected to nearby infrastructure and exported via the offshore Åsgard production center.
Aug. 29, 2025
Courtesy Odfjell Drilling
The offshore well was drilled by the Deepsea Yantai rig.
Vår Energi and its partners have made a potentially commercial gas-condensate discovery close to its operated Fenja Field in the Norwegian Sea.
July 21, 2025
Courtesy COSL
COSL Prospector offshore drilling rig
Equinor and its partners have made a gas discovery in the Skred prospect in the Barents Sea.
July 11, 2025
Courtesy Odfjell Drilling
Deepsea Yantai drilling unit offshore.
The Deepsea Yantai semisub has finished drilling a second appraisal well for ConocoPhillips Skandinavia on the 2020 Salgugle oil discovery in the Norwegian Sea.
June 25, 2025
Courtesy Norwegian Offshore Directorate
Map of offered area for storage of CO2
The Norwegian authorities have offered Equinor Low Carbon Solution AS an exploration license in the North Sea for CO2 storage.
June 14, 2025
Courtesy Odfjell Drilling
Deepsea Nordkapp drilling rig in the North Sea
An exploratory well for the Havstjerne CO2 storage project offshore Norway in the North Sea has confirmed a reservoir suitable for injection and storage of carbon dioxide.
June 2, 2025
ID 155731948 © Hyotographics | Dreamstime.com
offshore Norway
The Norwegian Ministry of Energy has made a further offshore area open for CO2 storage, comprising multiple blocks in the North Sea.
March 6, 2025
Courtesy Norwegian Offshore Directorate
Northern Pioneer CO2 transport vessel
Northern Pioneer, said to be the world's first commercial liquefied CO2 transport ship, has arrived in Norway.
Feb. 10, 2025
Courtesy COSL
cosl prospector
Vår Energi has discovered gas in the Elgol prospect in the Barents Sea, but the find may be sub-commercial, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate.
Jan. 17, 2025
ID 347301968 © Oleksandra Tsvid | Dreamstime.com
offshore oil and gas
The Norwegian Energy Ministry has offered 20 E&P companies interests in 53 production licenses under Norway’s 2024 pre-defined areas (APA) offshore leasing round.
Jan. 16, 2025
Courtesy Øyvind Gravås & Eirin Lillebø/Equinor
Johan Castberg FPSO heading for the field in Barents Sea
Gas production across the Norwegian Continental Shelf last year reached a new high of 124 Bcm, according to the Norwegian Offshore Directorate.
Jan. 10, 2025
Courtesy Transocean
Transocean Norge rig
Harbour Energy has confirmed gas with an appraisal well on the Sabina discovery in the Norwegian Sea.
Dec. 12, 2024