It’s Getting Less Appealing to Drill for Oil in the Arctic
- Number of applicants for new licenses drops by more than half
- Lower interest follows disappointing well results this year
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Oil exploration in Norway’s Arctic seems to have lost some of its appeal after a disappointing drilling campaign.
Only 11 companies applied for exploration licenses in the latest round -- the nation’s 24th -- which focused heavily on the Barents Sea, the Petroleum and Energy Ministry said in a statement on its website on Tuesday. That’s down from 26 in the previous offering and the lowest level since at least 2002, according to records available on the government’s website.