Norway's mature areas licensing round attracts bids from 39 oil firms -minister
OSLO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - A total of 39 oil companies asked for exploration acreage offshore Norway in the so-called predefined areas (APA) licensing round by the Sept. 1 deadline, the country's energy minister told TV2 News on Wednesday.
When announcing the round in May, the government expanded the pre-defined areas near existing discoveries by a total of 87 blocks in the Norwegian and the Barents Seas.
It plans to announce license awards in early 2018. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)