Norway offers 84 exploration blocks in 2021 licensing round
Norway launched a consultation on Thursday on a 2021 licensing round in mature areas in which it offered 84 new blocks for petroleum exploration, including 70 in the Arctic Barents Sea.
The maps attached to a statement by the Petroleum and Energy Ministry showed new blocks offered southeast of Bear Island, roughly half way between the Arctic Svalbard Archipelago and mainland Europe.
Four new blocks were offered in the North Sea and 10 in the Norwegian Sea, the statement said.
“Predictable access to (a) new exploration area is crucial for further development of the petroleum industry. It enables us to maintain activity and value creation on the Norwegian shelf and in the supplier industry,” Norway’s Oil and Energy Minister Tina Bru said in a statement.