The British Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has unveiled the results of the 30th Offshore Licensing Round and has awarded 123 licenses to 61 companies over 229 blocks or part-blocks across the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). The Norwegian state-run energy company Equinor (formerly known as Statoil) won 9 licenses, of which 8 as operator; the company's award included one commitment well in the Jæren High area. The British oil and gas company BP won seven licenses of which 5 as operator and 2 as partner.
The UKCS is estimated to hold around 1.5 Gboe and the OGA expects this round will help unlock an estimate of 320 mboe of resource in undeveloped oil and gas discoveries. The new work programme commitments include 8 firm exploration or appraisal wells, 9 firm new-shoot 3D seismic surveys and 14 licences progressing straight to field development planning (second term licences).
The round was launched in July 2017 and a total of 813 blocks in the southern, central and northern North Sea, west of Shetland and the East Irish Sea were available.
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