Deltic Energy、Horizo​​n Energy、INEOS 和 Perenco UK 等 14 家独立公司在北海过渡管理局 (NSTA) 最新一轮石油和天然气许可第三批中提供了 31 个许可证。这些奖项是继 2024 年 1 月起第二次分配中提供的 24 个许可证之后颁发的。

目前，该轮已向 50 家公司发出了 82 份报价，吸引了来自 257 个街区和部分街区的 76 家公司的 115 份投标。

最后一批的 31 个报价来自 29 个新许可证和两个合并，许可证覆盖北海南部、北海中部和东爱尔兰海。在 29 个新许可证中，23 个是初始期限 A 或 B 阶段，两个是初始期限 C 阶段（固定井），其余四个将直接进入第二阶段，这意味着理论上它们可以更快地投入生产。

A阶段进行岩土工程研究和地球物理数据再处理； B阶段正在进行地震勘探并获取其他地球物理数据； C阶段是钻井。

在与皇家财产局和苏格兰皇家财产局的合作伙伴进行讨论后，NSTA 首次引入了一项关于石油和天然气许可证与风电租赁重叠的新条款。这将成为这些许可证解决空间重叠并支持这些行业共存的主要商业机制。

我们正在进一步考虑少量剩余的申请，并且可能会在稍后提供更多许可证。

Deltic Energy, Horizon Energy, INEOS and Perenco UK were among 14 separate companies offered 31 licenses in the third tranche of the latest oil and gas licensing round from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). These awards follow the 24 licenses offered in the second allocation from January 2024.

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.

The 31 offers in the final tranche come from 29 new licenses and two merges, with the licenses covering the Southern North Sea, Central North Sea and East Irish Sea. 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 for conducting geotechnical studies and geophysical data reprocessing; Phase B is undertaking seismic surveys and acquiring other geophysical data; and Phase C is drilling.

Following discussions with partners in The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland, the NSTA has introduced a new clause for overlapping oil and gas licenses and wind leases for the first time. This will be the main commercial mechanism for these licenses to resolve spatial overlaps and support these industries’ co-existence.

Further consideration is being given to a small number of remaining applications and a few more licenses may be offered at a later date.