total ceo - in talks for uk shale project, page-17

Roiboi123 ,

UK licenses are not auctioned for money .

The secretary of state announces which blocks are going to be released and companies have a set time period to review them and apply (can't remember whether it is 60 or 90 days) .

Each companies applications contain their proposals for an exploration program and the commitments they make .

The relevent department then reviews each application on it's merits and makes their recommendation to the secretary of state .

I'm not a resource nationalist but it annoys me that France drag their heals on license renewals rather than reciprocate .