Page 15 - EurOil Week 03 2023

EurOil POLICY EurOil

UK hails success in first oil and

gas licensing round since 2020

UK THE UK’s first licensing round for several years The NSTA’s head of exploration and new
has attracted 115 bids, the North Sea Transition ventures, Nick Richardson, added: “We have
UK halted licensing in Authority (NSTA) reported on January 17, hail- seen a strong response from industry to the
2020, stating it would ing the result as a “strong response.” round, which has exceeded application levels
review whether policies The NSTA paused the rounds in 2020, stat- compared to previous rounds. We will now be
complied with climate ing that it needed to assess whether its licensing working hard to analyse the applications with a
ambitions. policies contradicted the UK’s climate goals. view to awarding the first licences from the sec-
That assessment resulted in climate compati- ond quarter of 2023.”
bility checkpoints being introduced, aimed at The previous UK licensing round concluded
ensuring that any new production is in line with in 2022 received 104 applications for 245 block
the country’s ambition of reaching net-zero by and part-blocks. A total of 768 blocks and part-
2050. blocks were offered, versus 931 this year.
The industry has criticised the checkpoints The NSTA expressed firm support for contin-
for jeopardising the UK’s energy security and ued oil and gas exploration.
affordability, although the Scottish government “Oil and gas currently contribute around
has criticised them as insufficient. But this is at a three quarters of domestic energy needs and
time when energy prices are soaring, and so the official forecasts show that, even as demand is
government in Westminster is eager to push for- reduced, they will continue to play a role,” the
ward with new projects to reduce the country’s authority said. “As we transition, maintaining
dependency on oil and gas imports. a clean domestic supply to meet that demand
The latest round attracted bids for 258 blocks can support energy security, jobs and the UK’s
and part-blocks from some 76 companies. world-class supply chain.”
“It’s fantastic to see such interest from indus- The NSTA also drew attention to the UK oil
try in this round, with the awarded licences set and gas industry’s track record on curbing emis-
to play an important role in boosting domestic sions. Production emissions fell by more than a
energy production and securing the UK’s long- fifth between 2018 and 2021, and they are pro-
term energy security of supply,” UK Energy Min- jected to meet reduction targets of 10% by 2025
ister Graham Stuart said in a statement. and 25% by 2027, the NSTA said. ™

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