By the OGJ Online Staff
LONDON, Feb. 6�Newly appointed UK Minister of Energy Peter Hain Tuesday said the government would accept applications from oil companies to develop two blocks containing fallow gas discoveries in the eastern Irish Sea.
Kerr McGee North Sea UK Ltd. previously held blocks 113/28 and 113/29 under a petroleum production license but relinquished them in 1999.
The government-industry taskforce Pilot listed the blocks in its year-old Undiscovered Discoveries initiative.
Hain, responding to a parliamentary question, said, "These blocks contain gas discoveries that have been identified as having potential for development. I am pleased that the efforts of the (Pilot) workgroup have led to this invitation being made.
"The decision to offer these blocks for license was taken after consultation with a number of organizations including the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and English Nature," Hain noted.
Pilot established the Undeveloped Discoveries Workgroup in March 2000 to "identify and categorize undeveloped discoveries in the UKCS" while "identifying potential clusters and issues hindering development (and) working towards framing three collaborative projects for action in 2000/2001."
