A total of 25 companies were offered stakes in the licences, including in two permits in the Arctic Barents Sea, the minister added.

"Today's award is an important contribution to ensuring that Norway remains a safe and predictable supplier of oil and gas to Europe," Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland told an industry conference in Sandefjord in southern Norway.

The government thus remains committed to maintaining industrial activity on the Norwegian continental shelf, he said.

Norway last year overtook Russia as Europe's biggest gas supplier, after the latter cut off much of the gas on which Europe previously depended.

Norway's oil output is expected to rise by 6.9% this year while gas volumes are predicted to remain unchanged near record highs, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said on Monday.

(Reporting by Nora Buli and Nerijus Adomaitis, editing by Terje Solsvik)