“The number of licenses is the highest ever awarded in a licensing round on the Norwegian continental shelf. Access to new, prospective exploration acreage is a central pillar in the government’s petroleum policy,” Energy Minister Terje Soeviknes said in a statement. Forty-five were in the North Sea, 22 in the Norwegian Sea, and eight others in the Barents Sea. Thirty-four firms were awarded leases and 19 of them earned the rights to lead their corresponding projects. Statoil, which is based in Norway, won 31 leases, while BP’s subsidiary scored 23. Thanks to costs cuts and large oil discoveries made before the oil price crash, Norway will be able to sustain its oil and gas production over the next five years. But reduced exploration drilling and lack of big discoveries in the past two years spell trouble for Western Europe’s biggest oil and gas producer after 2023, authorities […]