UK Awards 37 Frontier LIcence Areas (Update)
(Adds details of Equinor's licences)
UK upstream regulator Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) has offered for award 37 frontier licence areas over 141 blocks or part-blocks to 30 companies in the 31st offshore licensing round, it said June 4.
Describing them as "a strong platform for future exploration and production", they are in frontier areas of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) in the Faroe-Shetland Basin, Moray Firth, East Irish Sea, East Shetland Platform, Mid North Sea High and English Channel.
A number of proposed new work programmes have been secured in this round, including new shoot seismic acquisition, with two licences progressing straight to field development planning (second term licences).
Overall, the awards have been offered to a broad spectrum of companies; with super-majors expanding their footprint and new entrant companies investing for the first time.
It said that the results indicate "a continuation of the strong interest shown in the previous frontier round, the 29th round in 2016. It has been very encouraging to see industry generating new prospects and play concepts, and seeking acreage in areas which have never before been licensed, such as parts of the East Shetland Platform, underlining the positive impact of ongoing government-funded data initiatives.”
The OGA provided a number of incentives to support this successful round and stimulate interest, including a suite of new data and analyses, digital maps, prospect and discovery reports, plus well and seismic data. This includes data from the 2016 government-funded seismic programme, which provided almost 19,000 km of broadband seismic data, freely available to download, together with 23,000 km of reprocessed legacy seismic data and well data packages.
Attention will now turn to the 32nd round, due to be launched this summer, which will provide exploration and field development opportunities in mature areas of the UKCS.
Equinor bags five licences
Norwegian Equinoe won five licences, four as operator. It said: "We believe in continued value creation on the UKCS through new discoveries and look forward to our fifth exploration well in 2019, Lifjellet, to be drilled later this year."
The licences are situated in the Moray Firth and East Shetland Platform, expanding upon Equinor’s current position in these areas of the North Sea. Equinor was also awarded an extension to the Frigg Licence in the northern North Sea supporting the Frigg redevelopment project. The license awards include commitments for seismic surveys in several areas on the East Shetland Platform and the Moray Firth.
Eni drops Welsh seismic survey
Italian explorer Eni has backed down from its plan to carry out a seismic survey of Cardigan Bay shortly before it was due to start, the BBC reported May 31.
The plans had sparked local protests as the organisers said the activity would harm the dolphin and porpoise populations. Energy secretary Greg Clark said the application had been suspended at Eni UK's request. Cardigan Bay has the UK's biggest resident population of dolphins, and is home to thousands of porpoises for part of the year, according to the BBC. Clark said: "I can assure you that approval would not be granted if the proposals were likely to have any significant adverse effects on the Pembrokeshire coast and the wildlife that live there."