Norway's oil and energy ministry said on Tuesday it would offer 50 production licenses in its Awards in Pre-defined Areas (APA) 2010 licensing round for mature areas on the Norwegian shelf.

The ministry said it would offer 22 companies operatorships, and that 39 companies were offered stakes in licenses.

"There has been great interest for this APA round," said Oil and Energy Minister Terje Riis-Johansen.

Norway's Statoil was offered eight operatorships while Sweden's Lundin Petroleum and Wintershall, a unit of BASF, were offered six each.
Of the 50 production licenses awarded, 31 were in the North Sea, 17 in the Norwegian Sea and two in the Barents Sea. Eighteen were additional acreage for existing production licenses.

The 2010 APA round was announced on Feb. 19, 2010.