The UK Government said yesterday it had offered oil and gas licences for 268 blocks in the 26th offshore licensing round.
Although this figure was down on the previous round’s 303 blocks, this situation may be reversed because decisions have still to be made on a further 99 blocks close to or in nature conservation areas around the British coastline.
Energy Minister Charles Hendry said: “It’s encouraging to see the healthy level of interest there is from industry to make the most of the UK’s still substantial resources of oil and gas.
“We have moved swiftly to offer these licences as we must realise the optimum value from the UK’s energy resources and ensure secure energy supplies.
“We remain absolutely vigilant and determined to ensure that exploration in our waters is done safely and with minimal impact to the environment.”
Explaining why decisions still had to be made on 99 blocks, the minister said the government had wanted to get as many offers out as quickly as possible.
Licences have been allocated for 64 blocks in deep water west of Shetland, a move which will anger environmental campaigners.
Greenpeace wants to see a US-style moratorium on deepsea drilling on this side of the Atlantic, in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, however, Mr Hendry said the UK had the toughest safety regime in the world.
Some 83 companies have been offered licences so far in the 26th round, five of them newcomers to UK waters.
The list also includes major operators such as BP, Shell and ExxonMobil.
Malcolm Webb, chief executive of industry body Oil and Gas UK, said yesterday’s announcement was very welcome news. He added: “The scale of interest demonstrated in this recent licensing round confirms that there continues to be considerable appetite for developing the UK’s still substantial oil and gas resource, estimated to be up to 24billion barrels.
“The announcement provides reassurance of the government’s support for the long-term health of our industry. This support is vital if the UK offshore oil and gas industry is to continue successfully to attract investment to the UK so that it may maximise the recovery of our oil and gas reserves, contribute towards the country’s energy needs and safeguard highly skilled and well paid jobs.
“The longer we can deliver a sustainable industry, the more likely it is that we will be able to develop new technology to extract resources efficiently and identify solutions to help us develop energy systems for a future lower carbon economy.”
Noting that 99 blocks had been held back awaiting the results of environmental assessments, Mr Webb said: “We would urge the government to conclude this process as quickly as possible to allow prospective licensees to move ahead swiftly with investment in new exploration.”
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