The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has today offered a further 31 licenses of 88 blocks and part blocks in the Central North Sea, East Irish Sea, and the Southern North Sea in the latest phase (Tranche 3) of the 33rd oil and gas licensing round.
The offers in the final tranche are made up of 29 new licenses and two mergers. Of the 29 new licenses, 23 are Initial Term Phase A or B, two will be Initial Term Phase C (firm wells), and the remaining four will go straight to Second Term, meaning they can theoretically go into production more quickly.
Phase A is a period for carrying out geotechnical studies and geophysical data reprocessing; Phase B is a period for undertaking seismic surveys and acquiring other geophysical data; and Phase C is for drilling.
The licenses offered in the round would be expected to add an estimated 600 MMboe up to 2060, or 545 MMboe by 2050.
Tranche 1offered 27 licenses in October 2023, and Tanche 2 offered 24 licenses in January 2024 (OGJ Online, Oct. 7, 2022; Jan. 31, 2024). A total of 82 offers to 50 companies have now been made in the round which attracted 115 bids from 76 companies across 257 blocks and part-blocks.
