Oil exploration in Arctic

Oslo: Norway will offer oil firms exploration blocks in nine frontier areas in its latest licensing round, including eight regions of the Arctic Barents Sea and one in the Norwegian Sea, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said yesterday.

The Government offered 136 blocks, in line with a preliminary indication made in June, including 125 in the Barents Sea, in a major expansion of oil exploration in the Arctic.

Environmental groups have said Norway’s drive to find more Arctic oil and gas contradicts the country’s international commitments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.