Environmentalists were particularly critical that the government wants to offer about a dozen blocks that lie closer to Bear Island in the Barents Sea than any licences awarded in the past.
“This is going as close as possible to the area that is defined as vulnerable,” said Frederic Hauge, head of environmental group Bellona. “All fields this far north have greater challenges than anywhere else on the continental shelf because of distances, polar lows, icing and darkness.
