Statoil has been awarded shares in eight exploration licenses on the Norwegian continental shelf. The company is operator on six of them. The award, which comprises 38 production licenses, is split between 25 for the North Sea, ten for the Norwegian Sea and three for the Barents Sea. Statoil has been awarded shares in six North Sea licenses and two Norwegian Sea licenses. The company did not apply for shares in the Barents Sea this time. Statoil has had record-high exploration activity during the past two years. Most of the wells have been near-field, where discoveries can be brought on stream quickly.