The impending death of North Sea oil and gas exploration has been greatly exaggerated - or so it would seem. A total of 134 new North Sea exploration licences have been awarded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) as part of the 28th licensing round, and with a number of outstanding applications pending, it's nailed on that this will be one of the biggest rounds ever in the five decades since the process was initiated in 1964.
More than 60 companies applied for licences on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), although most submissions were linked to obtaining or reprocessing seismic data, with just nine proven/contingent wells included in the mix. That's obviously a little worrying, but some encouragement can be taken from an increased willingness on the part of explorers to try and tap deepwater prospects on the UKCS. France's Total SA, for example, has secured a new licence to the west of Shetland, which experts deem highly prospective.
Parkmead (PMG) followed on from last year's success with the provisional award of six new licences covering a total of nine offshore blocks in central and southern North Sea areas. But there was also interest from industry heavyweights: BG (BG.) secured five exploration blocks near existing production hubs, while Norway's Statoil was awarded interests in 12 new licences.
Among Aim’s smaller companies, Infrastrata (INFA) was offered a block in conjunction with its 50/50 joint venture partner Carstone Exploration. Infrastrata will be the operator on the block which contains the Oulston oil discovery which is believed to contain up to 16m barrels of oil and was first discovered 40 years ago by Amoco. Infrastrata believes that modern extraction techniques and the location of nearby infrastructure could make the field viable now. The partners will now look to attracts farm-in partners to fund the next stage of appraisal on the well.
