Press Release

No: 36/1999
Date: 10 May 1999

Production licences offered in North Sea Awards 1999

In the North Sea Awards 1999, 14 companies will be offered production licences in the North Sea. The companies will be offered shares in 19 blocks or parts of blocks.

The North Sea Awards were announced to secure good resource management of the most mature part of the Norwegian Continental Shelf. In choosing blocks for announcement in the North Sea Awards 1999, the Government gave preference to time critical acreage, that is blocks near infrastructures with spare, or soon-to-be-spare, capacity, and blocks near the delimitation line on the Continental Shelf.

The North Sea Awards were announced in November 1998 with a deadline for applications on 25 February this year. Applications were submitted for 20 of the 33 blocks or parts of blocks that were announced.

Offers will be given for 11 production licences in new areas.

The following companies have been offered to be operators in new areas (number in parenthesis):

Norsk Hydro (3), Agip (2), BP Amoco (2), Esso (2), Statoil (1) and Shell (1).

The following companies have been offered participating interest, including being operators, in new areas (number in parenthesis):

Agip (2), BP Amoco (2), Enterprise (3), Esso (2), Norsk Hydro (4), Mobil (4), RWE-DEA (1), Saga (1), Shell (1), Statoil (2).

In addition 3 production licences have been offered as adjacent acreage to Vale, Gullfaks Gamma and Brage.

Check Internet for map and further press releases: http://www.oed.dep.no

Enclosure, Offers – North Sea Awards 1999

New areas

Contact: Sissel Edvardsen, tel. +47 22 24 61 09