Noreco's five awards in the 20th licensing round in Norway will increase the risked exploration resources of the company by approximately 50%.

Noreco was awarded five of a total of 21 licenses awarded in the 20th licensing round, second to StatoilHydro in terms of number of licenses. The licenses offered to Noreco are all in the Norwegian Sea, and provide new, high impact drilling targets to the Noreco's portfolio. The awards will increase the risked prospective resources of Noreco by more than 200 million barrels of oil equivalents. Noreco's risked resources prior to the awards were in excess of 450 million barrels oil equivalents.

"We are very pleased with the licenses we were awarded, and look forward to meet with our new license partners to plan the exploration of these exciting opportunities," said VP of Exploration at Noreco, Lars Fosvold.

Tags: Norwegian Energy Company ASA