Monday 27 July 2015

Oil & Gas UK comments on Second Half of 28th Offshore Licence Round

Following the news from the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) that that  41 new  offshore oil and gas exploration licences were awarded today (Monday 27 July 2015), in addition to the 134 confirmed in late 2014, Oonagh Werngren, Oil & Gas UK’s operations director, commented:

“Today’s announcement, of the second half of the 28th offshore Licence Round on the UKCS is very welcome. The new licences are in a range of locations from mature, well-explored basins, to frontier acreage in the Rockall Trough and St George’s Channel Basin to the west of the UK, with licences awarded to both experienced operators and relatively new players.  Of concern, however, is that only one firm well and five new 3D seismic programmes appear to have been bid on the acreage, with the majority of licences being awarded on the basis of reprocessing or obtaining old 2D and 3D data.  

“The oil and gas industry is facing a number of major challenges, including the need to stimulate exploration, so today’s announcement, in conjunction with the new Government-funded 2D seismic programmes in the Rockall Trough and the mid North Sea, provides welcome stimulus for the basin and demonstrates that explorers still consider the UKCS prospective territory for the future.”

Ends