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    UK Launches 29th Offshore Round

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Summary

OGA, the UK's upstream regulator, has launched the 29th Offshore Licensing Round with more than 1200 blocks on offer.

by: Mark Smedley

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UK Launches 29th Offshore Round

UK upstream regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), has launched the 29th Offshore Licensing Round with 1,261 blocks on offer in the West of Scotland, northern North Sea, and mid-North Sea.

This latest round follows on from the successful 28th Round in 2015, one of the largest licensing rounds since offshore licensing began in 1964. Companies have until 2pm on 26th October 2016 to apply for blocks on offer in the 29th Round.

Its launch however comes a day after hundreds of offshore workers employed by the Wood Group on Shell platforms went out on a 24-hour strike on July 26, with further stoppages planned.

OGA chief Andy Samuel recognised that market conditions were currently very difficult but said that industry and the regulator “have a shared goal of making the basin as attractive as possible,” noting that a £20mn UK-funded seismic programme in 2015 had sparked interest in the Rockall Trough and Mid-North Sea High, and that these under-explored frontiers are offered in the 29th Round.

OGA chief executive Andy Samuel was previously a BG upstream executive for 19 years (Photo credit: UK government)

Lucy Neville-Rolfe, junior minister at the government’s new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with responsibility for the upstream sector, said: “We now look forward to companies taking advantage of these newly discovered sites and all the potential that they offer.”

In January 2016, the UK announced a further £20mn seismic programme for southwest Britain and the East of Shetland, to be undertaken later this year by Western Geco and PGS respectively.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on July 17 (Photo source: UK government)

Mark Smedley