Stewardship of the UK’s Oil & Gas Resources

Exploration

The fallow block process lead by the DTI has done a great deal to stimulate activity in the UKCS. The successful 22nd licensing round saw 97 licences awarded (58 Promote licences, 7 Frontier and 32 traditional). It attracted 15 potential new entrants to the UKCS and included ten blocks previously released under the fallow field’s initiative.

It is clear that most new discoveries are going to be smaller, typically in the range of 20 to 30 million barrels equivalent and further work is still needed to be able to make most 10 million barrel prospects economic to develop.

DTI and UKOOA are working closely together through PILOT, the joint Oil and Gas Industry / Government body chaired by the Energy minister, to encourage further:

• Access to data – via the DEAL website, which is now an indispensable tool for any company working or wanting to work in the offshore UK. This includes access to the National Hydrocarbon Data Archive, the repository for relinquished licence data;
• Access to licences – to enhance the fallow discoveries and blocks process supplementing the new Promote and Frontier licences;
• Access to infrastructure – monitoring the delivery of the new infrastructure code of practice.