The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has issued 24 new exploration licences as part of the second tranche of its latest Licensing Round, with oil majors Shell, BP and TotalEnergies among the winners.
A total of 17 companies have been offered licences, spanning some 74 blocks and part-blocks.
Equinor received the most blocks in this tranche, securing 14 blocks across two licences (one shared with its recently acquired subsidiary Suncor Energy).
TotalEnergies, Shell, Orcadian Energy and NEO Energy round out the top five firms securing the highest number of blocks.
All blocks offered in this tranche lie in the Central North Sea, Northern North Sea, and West of Shetland areas.
© Supplied by North Sea TransitionThe bulk of awards contain firm work commitments to desktop studies and seismic, almost all of which are on a “drill or drop” basis.
Alongside the supermajors, the NSTA also awarded licences to several smaller firms including Painted Wolf Resources, Parkmead (E&P) and North Sea Natural Resources.
Malaysian firms Ping Petroleum and Anasuria Hibiscus UK, a subsidiary of Hibiscus Petroleum, each received one licence as did Australian newcomers Harvester Energy and Triangle Energy.
Harvester received two licence covering one block each while Triangle Energy partners Orcadian Energy across nine blocks.
Existing North Sea operators EnQuest, Apache, Deltic Energy, ENI, Waldorf Production, Ithaca Energy and Dana Petroleum round out the licence awards.
Dana also received a licence for its Triton FPSO alongside Tailwind Mistral (owned by Serica Energy) and Waldorf Production.
Central North Sea
The majority of licences awarded in Tranche 2 of the 33rd NSTA Licensing Round are located in the Central North Sea.
© Supplied by North Sea Transition AuthorityThe NSTA awarded licences to operators covering the following blocks:
- Parkmead (E&P) (with Orcadian Energy): 14/15a, 14/20d, 15/11a
- Anasuria Hibiscus UK: 15/13c, 15/18c
- NEO Energy (with Ithaca): 15/22b, 15/23b & 15/27a, 15/28a
- NEO Energy (with Shell UK): 211/11, 211/16b
- Ping Petroleum: 21/1b, 21/6a, 21/7b
- Harvester Energy: 22/12b & 29/7b
- Dana Petroleum: 22/10b, 22/15c, 23/6, 23/11b, 23/16e (plus 21/30g for its Trition FPSO)
- BP: 23/16d, 23/17
- Deltic Energy: 22/24, 22/25e & 29/4b
- Shell UK: 30/2e, 30/3c
- Orcadian Energy (with Triangle Energy UK): 29/16, 29/17, 29/18, 29/19, 29/21, 29/22, 29/23. 29/27, 29/28
- North Sea Natural Resources: 20/28, 20/29, 20/30a, 21/26a
- Painted Wolf Resources: 21/30h, 22/26e
Northern North Sea
Further north, the latest tranche of NSTA 33rd licensing round sees a total of six operators awarded 10 blocks in the Northern North Sea area.
© Supplied by NSTACommenting on its licence awards, a spokesperson for Equinor said: “These licences expand upon Equinor’s current positions on the UK continental shelf and are in line with Equinor’s strategy to prioritise infrastructure-led exploration and, specifically for the UK, cross-border exploration and developments.
“Equinor was previously offered four licences (three as operator) in the first tranche of awards.
“All these offers are not only important to the energy industry that supports around 200,000 jobs in the UK, but are also key to securing domestic supply to strengthen energy security for the UK.”
The Equinor spokesperson acceptance of the offers and finalisation of details is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
The operators awarded licences in the Northern North Sea include:
- NEO Energy (with Shell UK): 211/11, 211/16b
- Equinor: 3/10c, 3/14f, 3/15f, 3/19d, 3/20c
- EnQuest Heather (with Waldorf Production UK): 9/1, 9/2c
- Apache Beryl: 9/18f
West of Shetland
Just three operators received blocks in the West of Shetland area, with supermajors TotalEnergies and Shell partnering on a licence covering 10 blocks.
A Shell spokesperson said: “We are pleased to confirm that Shell UK has been awarded a number of additional exploration licences in the UK’s 33rd Licensing Round.
“New exploration is important to back up the key role domestic oil and gas production plays in delivering security of energy supply to the UK.
“It also supports Shell’s aim to deliver more value with less emissions as we continue our journey towards becoming a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.”
© Supplied by NSTAMeanwhile Equinor received a licence covering alongside Suncor Energy UK, which the Norwegian state-owned firm acquired in 2023.
The licences awarded by the NSTA cover the following blocks:
- TotalEnergies (with Shell UK): 213/15b, 213/19, 213/20, 213/24b, 213/25, 213/29b, 213/30a, 214/11b, 214/16, 214/21
- Equinor (with subsidiary Suncor Energy UK): 205/1b, 205/2b, 205/3, 205/6, 205/7, 213/23, 213/24a, 213/28, 213/29a
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