Bid to invigorate North Sea

More data to be made available ahead of next licensing round

New measures unveiled by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) yesterday are aimed at making more data openly available and sparking interest in the UK North Sea in advance of the next offshore licensing round.

The 30th UK licensing round, likely to be announced during the third quarter of 2017, is expected to be the most significant in recent decades.

It will focus on more mature areas, some of which were last offered more than 40 years ago.

In March, the 29th licensing round saw 25 licences awarded for 111 blocks or part blocks to 17 companies for frontier areas of the UK North Sea.

The OGA's new measures include making data, including well and seismic information and images, for about 140 relinquished discoveries freely available. They also include technical montages for 60 discoveries, including history and other key information, and interactive maps showing undeveloped discoveries and licence relinquishments since 2014.

In addition, there will be a new technology event in Aberdeen in August hosted by the OGA and Oil and Gas Technology Centre. It will focus on ideas for unlocking oil and gas opportunities in the 30th round.

OGA operations director Gunther Newcombe said: “We know more than 3billion barrels of oil equivalent remain in approximately 350 undeveloped discoveries across the UKCS.

“Data and technology are key to unlocking as many of these undeveloped discoveries as possible. That’s why we’re making this data openly available; to provide useful insights into each discovery and the potential these may hold.”