Equinor has received 26 production licenses from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.

These are for various projects across the Norwegian Continental Shelf, as the company looks to transform the area from an oil and gas province to one driven by low carbon energy.

Equinor will look to work with the existing infrastructure, where geology is well known and the risk is lower for exploration.

Jez Averty, Senior Vice President for Subsurface in Exploration & Production Norway, said: “Near-field discoveries can be tied into existing infrastructure without large and costly new developments. In this way, we maximise the value of the infrastructure we have invested in for 40 years.

“In addition, these discoveries are characterised by high profitability, short payback period and low carbon emissions.”