(Adds Statoil, Aker BP, oil minister quotes, details)
By Nerijus Adomaitis and Joachim Dagenborg
SANDEFJORD, Norway, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Norway awarded 56offshore exploration licences on Tuesday, matching last year'srecord number, as it seeks to boost output from acreage locatednear existing oil and gas fields.
A total of 29 companies won stakes in the annual award ofblocks in mature areas - areas already opened for exploration.The allocations aim to ensure maximum utilisation of pastinvestments in platforms, pipes and other infrastructure.
The biggest winner was Statoil with 29 licences,including 16 operatorships, while Aker BP came insecond with 21 licences, of which 13 were operatorships.
"This shows that there still is a lot of interest for theNorwegian Continental Shelf and that new players are coming in,"Statoil's Chief Executive Eldar Saetre told Reuters on thesidelines of an industry conference.
Aker BP Chief Executive Karl Johnny Hersvik told Reuters thecompany had to a large extent been awarded the areas it hadapplied for.
"Hopefully some of them will be a part of our 2018exploration campaign," he said.
A total of 33 firms applied for acreage, down from 43companies in the previous round a year ago, when the ministryalso awarded 56 exploration licenses to 36 companies.
Others to win one or more operatorships in the latest roundinclude Lundin Petroleum, Eni, ConocoPhillips, Shell Total and Wintershall.
Of the licences, 36 were awarded in the North Sea, 17 in theNorwegian Sea and three in the Barents Sea.
Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Soeviknes said thegovernment has started to work on its latest licensing round fornew areas, and had received much interest. Results are duebefore July.
Oil production in Norway increased for the third consecutiveyear in 2016, beating official forecasts, and gas productionstood close to the record levels of 2015, the NorwegianPetroleum Directorate said in a statement earlier onTuesday. (Editing by Gwladys Fouche and Alexandra Hudson)
