Norway's oil ministry on Friday reported a surge in interest in exploring for oil off its coast, with the number of companies proposing license areas more than doubling to 46, up from 19 in the last regular licensing round in 2005, according to AP. «The companies have shown high interest for nominating blocks in this round. I am particularly pleased to see that small and medium sized oil companies now have nominated blocks,» Aslaug Haga, Minister of Petroleum and Energy. Norway invites companies to nominate offshore blocks or parts of blocks that they would be interested in exploring, and uses those suggestions to help decide which blocs to award.
