Norwegian energy company Statoil (STO) has been awarded interests in 12 new licences on the UK Continental Shelf it said on Thursday.



Statoil is to be the operator on nine of the new licenses, which were announced by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the company added.



11 of the licences are in the North Sea and one is west of the Hebrides, the company said.



"This new acreage holds the potential for new high-value barrels in our greater North Sea core area, both near our existing heavy oil projects and in new areas," Erling Vaagnes, senior vice president for exploration in Statoil, said in statement.



(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)