A raft of new Norwegian sanctions against Russia, replicating those imposed by the EU on September 12, came into effect on Friday, Norway's foreign ministry said.
The relevant regulation was adopted by the Cabinet on Friday and "takes effect immediately," the ministry said in a statement.
The sanctions imposed by the EU on September 12 target Rosneft, Russia's largest oil producer, Gazprom's oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft, and national pipeline operator Transneft.
The EU restricted the companies' access to EU capital markets as well as to services for deepwater, Arctic and shale oil exploration and production.
"Russia's conduct in Ukraine still gives cause for deep concern," foreign minister Borge Brende said.
"A fragile ceasefire has been signed, but Russia has not complied with the requirements of the international community, including the immediate and complete withdrawal of all military equipment and personnel from Ukrainian territory," Brende said.
Norway's Statoil is a partner with Rosneft in projects to explore frontier offshore areas including in the Okhotsk Sea and the Russian portion of the Barents Sea.
Last week, a local Russian government official said Statoil and Rosneft were maintaining their joint offshore exploration work at the Magadan 1 project in the Okhotsk Sea following a plan adopted last year.
Under a deal reached in July last year, the two companies plan to drill a total of six exploration wells between 2016 and 2021 at their projects in the Okhotsk and Barents Sea.
