Plans are in place for a joint licensing round to be launched between the Faroe Islands and the UK North Sea.
The “ground-breaking” collaboration would see a blocks go up in waters on the UK Atlantic Margin, in waters between west of Shetland and the Faroes.
It would see the fifth Faroese Licensing Round take place alongside the UK’s 32nd round, due to begin in June and close in November.
The Faroes Oil Industry Group said it will create a “whole new expanded oil province which subsumes and supersedes West of Shetland”.
It comes amid increased interest from the likes of BP, Shell, Total and Equinor in the west of Shetland region.
The plans have been laid before the Faroese Parliament by Poul Michelsen, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Faroese government gave a wide estimate of between 100million and 10billion barrels of potential recoverable oil being present on the Faroese Continental Shelf.
As part of the initiative, the government intends to remove a two percent royalty provision for licensees.
