The agency’s blocking move, made in response to a consultation on the round, deals a curved ball to the licensing process to open up a new and prospective area of the south-east Barents that was formerly off-limits to exploration.
The Oslo government plans to offer a total of 61 blocks - including 54 in the frontier Barents, with the remaining seven in the Norwegian Sea – under the round that has triggered strong interest from explorers.
The
