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Oil And Gas Authority Issues More Licences For North Sea Exploration
Thursday 31st May 2018
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The oil and gas industry has been given a boost, having been granted more licences to explore the North Sea for potential fuel sources.
Earlier this week (May 23rd), the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has offered 123 licences to 61 companies for award, as part of the 30th Offshore Licensing Round. If these are taken up, an area stretching 26,659 sq km will be available for further exploration by oil and gas businesses.
Dr Andy Samuel, chief executive at the OGA, said: "Exploration is very much alive with lots of prospects generated and new wells to be drilled."
He added: "I'm looking to industry to rapidly press ahead with these activities and maximise recovery from these great opportunities."
The organisation expects this round of licences to create around a dozen discoveries, which it hopes will contain 320 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of resource.
Currently, the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) has 1.5 billion boe of resource in undeveloped discoveries. Therefore, the OGA's latest round will allow access to 20 per cent of these.
Lord Duncan, parliamentary under secretary for Scotland, stated this is "welcome news" for the economy, as it will create further exploration opportunities and boost job prospects for the industry.
Indeed, this comes after MP Colin Clark remarked about how important oil and gas is for the whole of the UK. Writing in Energy Voice, he stated that it "acts as a driver of growth in many parts of the economy".
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