Ann: Operational Update & UK 33rd Offshore Licensing Round, page-110

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...a?shareToken=eea5f5f4c235f163545606cebf5d91fb


New gasfields in North Sea could be producing by next year


Emily Gosden

Tuesday January 17 2023, 12.01am, The Times

New North Sea gasfields could be brought into production within as little as 18 months after the government secured bids for a series of new licences.

The North Sea Transition Authority, the government-owned body that regulates the North Sea oil and gas industries, said that it had received 115 bids from 76 companies seeking the rights to 258 geographical blocks or parts thereof. It had offered access to 931 areas under the latest licensing round, which launched in October.

The details have not been disclosed but the winners are expected to be announced from the second quarter.


The authority said the licensing round “included four priority areas, which have known hydrocarbons [oil and gas], in which there was very keen interest and could see production in as little as 18 months”. These are clusters of explored but undeveloped fields in the southern North Sea, an area with significant existing gas production.

The 18-month timescale is ambitious considering the average time to bring a discovery to production is almost five years. Licences give companies the right to produce from an area but they still require other consents and approvals to proceed. The authority said that “the bids will now be carefully studied, with a view to awarding licences quickly and supporting licensees to go into production as soon as appropriate”.