UK authority issues more oil and gas licenses
Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK — Britain’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has awarded 17 companies interests in 24 licensees under the second tranche of the UK’s 33rd oil and gas licensing round.
Successful applicants include UK offshore majors bp, Equinor, NEO and TotalEnergies E&P UK.
Last October the NSTA made its first allocation of 27 licenses, and it expects to issue further awards over the next few months.
The 74 blocks and part-blocks offered this time are across the central and northern UK North Sea and West of Shetland. Most of the remaining blocks are in the southern gas basin and East Irish Sea. Offers will be confirmed after OPRED has concluded associated environmental evaluations, including Habitat Regulation Assessment (HRA) Appropriate Assessments.
When the 33rd Round opened in October 2022, over 900 blocks were made available. The NSTA says the average time between licensing and first production on the UK shelf is now close to five years, so the newly awarded acreage could be producing before the end of this decade.
Last month the NSTA granted Shell development and production consent for the Victory gas field west of Shetland.
A NSTA spokesperson said: “These licenses have the potential to make a significant contribution to the UK in energy production and economic benefits, and the NSTA will work alongside the licensees to help bring them into production as quickly as possible.”
Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero Graham Stuart added: “We will continue to need oil and gas over the coming decades, so it is common sense to make the most of our own resources – with domestically produced gas almost four times cleaner than importing liquefied natural gas from abroad.”
01.31.2024
