Norway says 43 firms seek new oil/gas licences
Norway has received applications from 43 companies for new offshore oil and gas drilling rights in its annual licensing round in mature areas of the Norwegian continental shelf, the energy ministry said on Friday.
In total, 192 blocks or parts of blocks were offered in February this year, and the ministry intends to award acreage in December.
The round for awards in pre-defined areas (APA) of the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea comes under a system introduced by Norway in 2003 for annual licensing in mature areas of the shelf, often near existing infrastructure.
“It’s great to see the large interest in acreage in mature areas of the continental shelf,” Oil and Energy Minister Odd Roger Enoksen said in the statement.
The applicants include Norwegian oil firms Statoil , Norsk Hydro and DNO , U.S majors such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips , Denmark’s DONG, France’s Total and Gaz de France and minnows like Norwegian Revus Energy .
The other applicants were — Altinex Oil , BG , Bridge Energy, Centrica , Discover, Edison , Endeavour Energy , Ener Petroleum, Eni , E.ON Ruhrgas , Faroe , Genesis , Idemitsu, Hess , Lundin , Maersk Oil , Marathon , Nexen Petroleum , Noble Energy , Norwegian Energy Company, OMV , PA Resources , Pertra , Petro-Canada , Petrofac , Premier Oil , Rocksource , RWE Dea , Serica , Svenska Petroleum Exploration, Talisman Energy , VNG and Wintershall.
