NSTA awards additional licenses in oil, gas round

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has awarded 24 licenses in the second tranche of its 33rd oil and gas licensing round to 17 companies. Shell PLC, Equinor ASA, bp PLC, TotalEnergies SE, and NEO Energy were among the awarded companies.

The 74 blocks and part-blocks offered this time are all in the Central North Sea, Northern North Sea, and West of Shetland areas. The remaining blocks, the majority in the Southern North Sea and East Irish Sea, will be offered when environmental evaluations, including Habitat Regulation Assessment, have been finalized by the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning.

This latest batch results in 51 total offers in the 33rd oil and gas licensing round since 27 licenses were offered in the first allocation made in October last year (OGJ Online. Oct. 30, 2023). More licenses will be awarded once appropriate environmental checks are complete.