The UK has awarded 27 new licenses for oil and gas exploration and production in the North Sea, prioritizing areas that can quickly go into production. In addition to these licenses, six more blocks have been merged into existing licenses. All 258 blocks that were applied for have gone through an initial environmental assessment and have been identified as not requiring further assessment. These licenses in the Central and Northern North Sea and West of Shetland aim to expedite exploration and development of oil and gas resources, with the average time from license award to production being around five years.
The 33rd Oil and Gas Licensing Round, launched in October 2022, received 115 applications from 76 companies for 258 blocks/part-blocks, marking the highest participation since 2016/17. There are currently 284 offshore fields in production in the UK North Sea, with an estimated 5.25 Gbl of oil equivalent projected for production until 2050. The remaining 203 blocks will be considered once the Habitat Regulation Assessment Further Appropriate Assessment process is completed.
Interested in Global Energy Research?
Enerdata's premium online information service provides up-to-date market reports on 110+ countries. The reports include valuable market data and analysis as well as a daily newsfeed, curated by our energy analysts, on the oil, gas, coal and power markets.
This user-friendly tool gives you the essentials about the domestic markets of your concern, including market structure, organisation, actors, projects and business perspectives.