LONDON — With oil companies hungry for new undersea reserves, Iceland is opening its waters to exploration. The island nation, which was battered by the financial crisis, is hoping some promising early signs will lead to a big find.

Melting ice is expected to make the Arctic more accessible to drilling, mining and shipping, and Iceland is eager to position itself as a base for some of that activity.

It issued two licenses for oil exploration in January and is finalizing a third, hoping to pave the way for rigs to drill beneath its seas for the first time. Still, any drilling is probably years off, and will happen only if fresh studies confirm the signs that significant amounts of oil may be present under the sea floor.

Geological similarities to oil-rich areas of Norway have raised hopes, said Andy Brogan, oil and gas transactions leader at Ernst & Young in London. A report that was published during the licensing process said analysis of seabed samples had found residues pointing to the presence of oil, offering further encouragement.