The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has received applications from 13 companies for the North Sea Awards 2000 on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The companies that have submitted applications are: Agip, Aker Maritime, BP Amoco, Chevron, Conoco, Enterprise, EssoMobil, Hydro, Fortum, Phillips, RWE-DEA, Shell and Statoil. The award of production licenses in the North Sea Awards 2000 are planned to take place in 1 ^st>. quarter of 2001.

- I am satisfied with the interest shown by the companies. The North Sea Awards 2000 was announced to contribute to responsible resource management. At the same time it's important that the industry gets the opportunity to utilize the remaining resources in a businesslike way, says Olav Akselsen, Minister of Petroleum and Energy.