Britain's Oil and Gas Authority has halted its licensing rounds for offshore exploration acreage in the North Sea at least until next year, it said on Tuesday.
"The OGA have temporarily paused Licence Round activity... There will be no Round in 2020/21, which will allow relinquishments to take place so more coherent areas can be reoffered in future and give industry time to deliver on work commitments in the existing portfolio of licenses," it said.
"The OGA is planning for a 33rd Round and will confirm the timing as soon as it is finalized."
(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla, editing by Louise Heavens)
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