Norway awards record 75 oil exploration licenses (updated)
16/01/2018 14:53
(Adds companies, details)
By Joachim Dagenborg and Nerijus Adomaitis
SANDEFJORD, Norway, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Norway has awarded a
record 75 offshore oil exploration licences, to Statoil
STL.OL , Aker BP AKERBP.OL Shell RDSa.L , Total TOTF.PA
and ConocoPhillips COP.N among others, the energy ministry
said on Tuesday.
The licenses comprised 45 in the North Sea, 22 in the
Norwegian Sea and eight in the Barents Sea and were awarded in a
so-called annual predefined areas (APA) licensing round,
introduced by Norway in 2003 to encourage exploration and
development of discoveries near existing infrastructure.
"The number of licenses is the highest ever awarded in a
licensing round on the Norwegian continental shelf. Access to
new, prospective exploration acreage is a central pillar in the
government's petroleum policy," Energy Minister Terje Soeviknes
said in a statement.
The 75 licences were awarded to 34 firms, of which 19 won
the right to lead projects.
Environmentalists have criticized the expansion of
exploration acreage via APA rounds in the Barents Sea, saying
that such moves into a largely unexplored area with only two
producing fields exceed the original purpose of the rounds.
In total, 39 firms had applied for the offered acreage, up
from 33 companies that applied in the previous round a year ago,
when the ministry awarded 56 exploration licenses. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1LN1QK
Statoil was the biggest winner in the latest round with 31
licences, including 17 lead operators, while Aker BP came in
second with 23 licences, of which 14 were lead operators.
Shell, Total, ConocoPhillips, Lundin Petroleum LUPE.ST and
ExxonMobil XOM.N were among those awarded acreage.
(Additional reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord; Editing by Terje
Solsvik and Susan Fenton)
((nerijus.adomaitis@thomsonreuters.com; +47 9027 6699; Reuters
Messaging: nerijus.adomaitis.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))
Keywords: NORWAY OIL/