Opening up more areas in the Barents Sea for drillers is expected to deliver in terms of future production, the Norwegian government said Monday. Eleven companies were offered 12 production licenses by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. Of those, nine are in the Barents Sea. “Our analyses show that the largest undiscovered resource potential on the Norwegian continental shelf is in the Barents Sea,” Torgeir Stordal, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s director for exploration, said in a statement . “We also believe that this is the area on the Shelf most likely to deliver large discoveries.” Norway is one of the main suppliers of oil and natural gas to the European market, apart from Russia. […]