Norway Grants 57 Oil, Gas Production Permits in Mature Areas

Norway awarded 57 licenses for exploration acreage in the seas off its coast, slightly more than a year earlier, and proposed 70 new blocks be made available next year.

Licenses were offered to 19 companies, Energy Ministry Terje Aasland said on Tuesday. The ministry granted 31 licenses in the North Sea, 21 in the Norwegian Sea and 5 in the Barents.