- Norway awards a record 75 offshore oil exploration licenses - the most ever awarded in a licensing round on the Norwegian continental shelf - to Statoil (STO), Aker BP (NYSE:BP), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Total (NYSE:TOT) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), among others.
- STO was the biggest winner in the latest round with 31 licenses, including 17 as lead operator, while Aker BP came in second with 23 licenses, including 14 as lead operator.
- The licenses comprised 45 in the North Sea, 22 in the Norwegian Sea and eight in the Barents Sea; the latter have been criticized by environmentalists who say such moves into a largely unexplored area exceed the original purpose of the licensing rounds.