Sept 21 (Reuters) - Norway's Oil Ministry:
* A total of 33 oil firms have applied for acreage in Norway's so-called mature areas licensing round of 2016
* Applicants include Statoil STL.OL , Shell RDSa.L , BP BP.L , ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) COP.N , Det norske DETNOR.OL and Lundin Petroleum LUPE.ST
* In the 2015 round, 43 companies applied. The ministry later offered acreage to 36 of them. The ministry did not say when the awards in the latest round would be made. Also known as Awards in Pre-defined Areas (APA), the annual mature areas awards are normally announced in January each year