Norway has received bids from 38 companies applying for new exploration acreage in the latest licensing round for mature areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum said on Friday. Both the number of applicant companies and the total number of applications are almost as high as in last year’s record-breaking licensing round, the ministry noted, adding that the 38 companies include large international firms and smaller exploration companies. Equinor, ConocoPhillips, Total, Wintershall, Eni, and Aker BP are some of the big names on the list of the companies who had applied for new exploration acreage. Announcing the mature areas licensing round in May this year, Norway expanded the predefined area by 103 blocks in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. After receiving the bids, now the Petroleum Ministry aims to award the new production licenses at the beginning of 2019. “The fact that the oil […]