While the oil industry continues to cut jobs, projects and costs amid low crude prices, one region is making a surprise comeback after years of declining activity, company executives and officials say: the Norwegian Arctic. The search for oil and gas in mature offshore areas in the North Sea is being axed this year due to tighter budgets, but the number of exploration wells in the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea is increasing to 10 in 2016 from seven last year. Adding to this, the government will hand out new drilling permits by the end of the second quarter, in an oil licensing round set to open unexplored acreage in the Barents Sea, near Norway’s offshore border with Russia. Oil major Statoil said it was seeking a rebound in exploration […]