Brussels keeps its Arctic moratorium as Norway licenses on
The Commission says the moratorium on new Arctic oil and gas development stays in the updated Arctic strategy, due Oct. 20, 2026. Norway's APA 2026 round expanded into the Barents Sea anyway.
LONGYEARBYEN: The European Commission's Arctic policy retains the moratorium on new Arctic oil and gas development, and a Commission spokesperson has said the approach will remain unchanged in the updated strategy due on Oct. 20, 2026. Norway's APA 2026 licensing round expanded the predefined area by 70 blocks or parts of blocks anyway, including in the Barents Sea.
The Commission has described the policy review as a response to changing geopolitical and geoeconomic conditions in the Arctic: increased military activity and hybrid threats, and growing interest in the region's resources, energy and emerging trade routes.
The updated strategy is expected to frame the Arctic's growing importance to the bloc's defence and climate ambitions. Brussels has stressed that the moratorium remains a non-binding political commitment, not a legal prohibition on Norwegian activity on Norway's own continental shelf.
Norway's answer, delivered on Sept. 11, was the APA 2026 applicant list: 21 companies, including Equinor, Aker BP, ConocoPhillips, TotalEnergies and a returning Shell, bidding for acreage across the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. Awards are targeted for early 2027.
Energy Minister Terje Aasland's argument is that continued exploration and new discoveries are crucial for Norway to remain a stable supplier of oil and gas, a position that treats European energy security as the counterweight to Brussels' moratorium.
The two positions now run in parallel: a European moratorium on new Arctic development, and a Norwegian licensing round that includes Arctic acreage. The Barents Sea blocks in APA 2026 are where the contradiction is sharpest, and where the awards early next year will be read most closely.
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