courtesy Aker Kvaerner

Aker Exploration has secured an exploration license in each of the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea offshore Norway, bringing to five the company’s holdings.

With its Aker Drilling connection, the company has swapped drill-rig capacity for offshore stakes with Italian oil company ENI, StatoilHydro, Calgary-based Talisman and recently expanded Pertra.

In a statement Monday, Aker Exploration said it has asked Norwegian regulators to “pre-qualify” the company as an “operator” offshore Norway, the near-equivalent of duty-holder in the United Kingdom.

The Aker entity aims to drill from five to seven wells “annually” with the Aker Barents semi-submersible drill rig, due to enter service in exactly a year. The company also intends to list in Oslo by year-end.