Brief

Norway’s Regulation on Data Collection and Documentation in Mineral Activities on the Continental Shelf establishes a uniform rule set that governs notification, approved methods and operating constraints, pre survey programs, reporting deadlines, and the delivery of datasets and sample materials from seabed-mineral surveys. It assigns the Norwegian Offshore Directorate clear supervisory and classification powers and provides for dispensations, creating a consistent administrative framework for data quality and environmental diligence across mineral activities on the shelf.

Origins

The regulation was adopted by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate on 1 September 2025 with legal bases in the Seabed Minerals Act and the Seabed Minerals Regulation. It entered into force on 1 September 2025. Its purpose is to provide detailed provisions on notification, data collection, and documentation within areas delegated to the Directorate and to safeguard third-party interests related to surveys. It applies to mineral activities covered by the Seabed Minerals Regulation.

General Duties

The regulation includes definitions such as borehole, discovery, and geophysical surveys that govern its application. Rights holders must ensure that all persons acting for them, including employees, contractors, and subcontractors, comply with the regulation.

Notification & Pre‑Survey Programs

Rights holders must notify survey activities carried out under exploration or production licenses through the Directorate’s survey notification system to the designated authorities. The notification duty covers geophysical surveys including:

  • Bathymetry.
  • AUV and ROV sensor based surveys.
  • Drilling of boreholes
  • Sampling of minerals, sediments, biological material and water.
  • Imaging and video recording.
  • Deployment of stationary measurement stations.
  • Measurements in the water column including water chemistry and currents.

The mapping program must be submitted at least five weeks before the planned start of notified survey activities. A program for the delineation of discovered mineral occurrences must be submitted at least ten weeks before its planned start. The Directorate may require changes to the delineation program when that does not unreasonably affect the conduct of the surveys and may require status reporting during survey execution.

Operating Constraints

Approved methods and equipment include multibeam echo sounder, side scan sonar, seismic, electromagnetic and magnetotelluric measurements, gravimetric and magnetic measurements, sub bottom profiler, high resolution synthetic aperture sonar, geochemical sensors, CTD oceanographic probes, cameras including video, seabed mounted instruments, sediment coring, TV grab, and ROV based sampling tools. Bottom trawling or bottom scraping cannot be used as a survey method. If other methods or equipment are planned, the rights holder must inform the Directorate at least ten weeks in advance and include a description of the equipment, the planned application, documentation of prior use or testing, and an assessment of environmental consequences. If the planned method has more extensive environmental effects than the listed methods, the Directorate may, after consulting the Environment Agency, set requirements for its use or order the use of other methods or equipment. Drilling using a drillship or comparable mobile drilling unit requires a permit and the application must be filed at least ten weeks before the planned start. Sampling on active hydrothermal structures must avoid damage beyond the removal of the sample and avoid significant negative effects on the biodiversity associated with such structures.

Reporting, Data Delivery, and Samples

The rights holder must send a final report as soon as possible and no later than three months after completion of the survey. The report must document active hydrothermal structures and larger concentrations of sponges and corals, identify locations with coordinates, and provide fluid temperatures if they were measured. The rights holder must submit documentation from geophysical and geological surveys that includes field data and processed datasets, such as processed bathymetric, seismic, gravity, magnetic, electromagnetic, and sonar data, as well as analyses, maps, and profiles presenting results. When sample material is issued for study, the recipient must, within six months after sampling, send a complete final report and analysis results from all studies to the Directorate and provide sets of any produced thin sections or microfossil or palynological preparations, including digital copies if microscope scanning was used. The recipient must cover costs associated with receiving sample material in accordance with the Directorate’s determination. Rights holders must provide ongoing information about changes in rights to reported data and must inform the Directorate as soon as possible of any material changes that arise after documentation has been submitted.

Registration, Classification, Supervision, and Dispensations

The Directorate may set the designation and registration number for surveys, boreholes, and sampling locations. Mineral resources must be classified according to a system designated by the Directorate and the Directorate sets the naming of finds. The Directorate is the supervisory authority and may issue individual decisions to implement the regulation. It may grant dispensations from deadlines for reporting and the submission of documentation, data, and samples under the chapter on reporting and submissions, and in special cases it may grant dispensations from other provisions in the regulation. The regulation entered into force on 1 September 2025.

Stakeholder Implications

Operators should structure project schedules around the five week and ten week lead times for pre survey programs and factor in the three month final reporting deadline and the six month deadline that applies when sample materials are issued for studies. Data management systems must accommodate the delivery of both field and processed datasets in the categories identified by the regulation, and sampling workflows must anticipate obligations to deliver thin sections and other derived materials. Engagement with the Directorate will be frequent during planning and execution, including through the survey notification system and potential status reporting.

Key Takeaways

  • Requires advance notification through the Directorate’s system and pre-survey programs: mapping at least 5 weeks before start and delineation at least 10 weeks before start.
  • Lists approved survey methods and prohibits bottom trawling or scraping; drilling with a drillship or comparable mobile unit needs a permit filed 10 weeks in advance.
  • Mandates a final survey report within 3 months, including coordinates and details for hydrothermal structures, sponge and coral concentrations, and fluid temperatures if measured.
  • Requires delivery of field and processed datasets and sets a 6 month deadline for recipients of issued samples to submit reports, analyses, thin sections, and digital copies where applicable, with recipients covering costs.