GDF Suez awarded seven oil, gas licenses

Doris Leblond
OGJ Correspondent

PARIS, Dec. 2 -- GDF Suez E&P UK Ltd. was awarded seven oil and gas licenses, including five operated, in the 26th UK Licensing Round by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

Four of the new licenses are in the central North Sea, two in the Southern North Sea, and one west of Shetland.

In the central North Sea, GDF Suez is operator of the three Blocks: 22/23c (split) with a 23% stake; 30/1a (split) with a 30% stake in partnership with Maersk Oil, RWE Dea AG, and Nippon Oil Corp.; and 30/13b with a 100% stake.

West of Shetland, GDF Suez is operator on Blocks 22/16, 22/17b with a 25% interest in partnership with Rwe Dea, Nippon, and OMV AG. On Blocks 214/26 and 214/27b it has a 30% stake in partnership with operator Nippon.

In the southern North Sea GDF Suez is operator on Blocks 47/14c, 47/15c with a 51.56% stake in partnership with First Oil. It has a 45% interest in Blocks 36/20, 36/25, 37/16, and 37/21 in partnership with Venture operator and Volantis.

GDF Suez E&P UK managing director Jean-Claude Perdigues noted, "The new licenses are located in our three core areas of activity, close to Cygnus and Juliet, our existing operated assets.”