The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has offered for award 12 licenses to 11 companies, including Statoil, BP, Shell, Maersk, Apache and EnQuest in the 2016 Supplementary Offshore Licensing Round.
Fourteen blocks were originally on offer in this Supplementary Round, offered in response to industry nominations of areas outside of those covered by last year’s frontier 29th Licensing Round.
Locations varied across the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), from the southern North Sea to East of Shetland. The round offered blocks under flexible terms, enabling applicants to define a license duration and phasing that will allow them to execute their optimal work program.
In all, 15 applications covering 11 blocks were received and the OGA is now ready to make offers of award in respect of 12 licenses covering the 11 blocks.
Five of the awards are for work program that will proceed straight to Second Term, either for potential developments, or re-developments of fields where production had ceased and the acreage had been relinquished. The remainder of the licenses will enter the Initial Term (exploration stage).
The awards were, by block:
Northern North Sea
Central North Sea
Southern North Sea
OGA CEO Andy Samuel said: “We’re listening to industry and are pleased to make available a number of additional, nominated areas. The strong interest in this round bodes well for the forthcoming 30th round, demonstrating the renewed attractiveness of the UKCS and the opportunity for operators to rebuild their portfolios with a mixture of exploration, development and re-development activity.”