OSLO: Norway on Wednesday proposed to open up a record number of blocks in the Barents Sea to oil exploration despite protests from environmentalists and others fearing possible damage to the Arctic region. The Norwegian oil and energy ministry offered oil companies 93 blocks in the Barents Sea and nine others in the Norwegian Sea, all located beyond the Arctic Circle. “New exploration acreage promotes long-term activity, value creation and profitable employment in the petroleum industry across the country,” Energy Minister Terje Soviknes, a member of the right-wing government, said in a statement. Public bodies such as the Norwegian Environment Agency, the Directorate of Fisheries and the Norwegian Polar Institute had opposed the opening of several dozens of these blocks, wary of their proximity to the sea ice and the effect of disruptive surveying techniques on valuable fish stocks, among other things. “This shows that Norway’s government has no respect for the climate goals they signed onto in the Paris agreement,” the head of Greenpeace Norway, Truls Gulowsen said, referring to the 2015 COP21 accord aiming to keep global warming to under two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels. Published in Daily Times, June 22nd, 2017.