Faroe Petroleum has been awarded three new licences in the latest Norwegian licensing round.

Faroe Petroleum has been awarded three new licences in the latest Norwegian licensing round.

The explorer focused on the Atlantic Margin, North Sea and Norway was awarded the prospective licences yesterday by the Norwegian ministry of petroleum and energy.

Two of the awards, which have no well commitments, are in the Halten Terrace province of the Norwegian Sea.

"These licences offer excellent exploration and appraisal opportunities in an area which is in active development," Faroe said.

One is a 30% interest in an extension of the com- pany's existing PL475 Santana licence, where a well is scheduled for 2010. The partners are Revus Energy (operator), Concedo and Centrica.

The second is a 20% interest in a 300 square kilometre area close to existing acreage in the province. The partners are Centrica (operator), E.ON Ruhrgas and North Energy.

In addition, Faroe has been awarded one licence in the northern North Sea, which it says offers "an exciting exploration opportunity in this mature production area".

Faroe shares rose 1p to 50.25p yesterday.