A total of 51 blocks have been announced in the Barents Sea and 43 blocks in the Norwegian Sea and the awards for these blocks are expected in the spring of 2011, according to the company.
Statoil vice president for exploration on the NCS Tom Dreyer said that the NCS is important to Statoil and the application the company is submitting is comprehensive, and it expects a good outcome.
The company said that access to new attractive exploration areas is essential for the company to be able to confirm the existence of new resources, which in turn could form the basis for standalone developments and create positive spinoffs.
For the last years, the authorities have awarded new acreage through ordinary licensing rounds every other year.
