15 companies have submitted their nominations to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for blocks that are recommended for inclusion in the North Sea Awards in 2000. The nominating companies are Agip, Amerada Hess, BPAmoco, Chevron, Conoco, Dong, Enterprise, EssoMobil, Fortum, Hydro, Phillips, RWE-DEA, Shell, Statoil og TotalFina/Elf. 34 blocks or parts of blocks in the North Sea have been nominated by two or more companies.

The Ministry will base its selection of blocks to be announced on the information received.

-Through the North Sea Awards the companies will get better access to acreage. This will give increased employment and a more effective resource management on the continental shelf, says Olav Akselsen, Minister of Petroleum and Energy.

The Ministry is planning to announce blocks in the third quarter of 2000. Awards of new licences could then take place at the turn of the year 2000/2001.

Map to be found on the Ministry's web site: http://www.oed.dep.no

Contact:
Sissel Edvardsen, +47 22 24 61 09