The UK Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) has provided more offshore data in advance of its 30th offshore licensing round, which is expected to be announced later this year.
“We want to help make the UK as attractive as possible to explore for oil and gas,” said Gunther Newcombe, OGA’s operations director. “Part of this is about making as much data as possible openly available so people can understand more about our subsurface and make well-informed decisions.”
OGA said the latest data release follows the publication in June of subsurface data packages related to undeveloped discoveries. The 30th licensing round will focus on the UK Continental Shelf’s more-mature areas, some of which were last offered for licensing more than 40 years ago.
All of the openly available data packages can be accessed through the online maps on OGA’s web site. They include UKCS-wide multisatellite gravity data; about a thousand wells with joined digital well logs; core analysis, formation pressure, and geothermal databases; and regional geological maps covering the central North Sea and Moray Firth areas.
In addition, OGA said the packages include formerly proprietary reports that cover regional and subsurface aspects of the central North Sea, including operators’ experiences in low-cost well and completion design.
The 29th round in March resulted in the award of 25 licenses for 111 blocks and partial blocks to 17 companies for frontier areas of the UKCS (OGJ Online, Mar. 24, 2017).
