The UK North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has once again issued exploration licences to companies in a new oil and gas licensing round after October 2023.
Successful licence holders include the British offshore majors bp, the Norwegian group Equinor and TotalEnergies E&P UK. The exploration areas now awarded are located in the central and northern British North Sea and west of the Shetland Islands. The Victory gas field, for which Shell received the development and production licence from the NSTA at the beginning of the year, is also located there.
This is because the licences will only be confirmed once the associated environmental and habitat assessments by the UK Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment & Decommissioning (OPRED) have been completed.
Oil and gas reserves in Europe. Graphic: Wikimedia Commons, CC BA-SA 3.0
According to the NSTA, the average time between the granting of licences and the first production on the British shelf is almost five years, meaning that production in the areas now awarded could begin before the end of this decade. According to an NSTA spokesperson, the licences have the potential to make a significant contribution to energy security, with economic benefits for the UK. The NSTA will therefore work with the licence holders to enable them to start production as soon as possible.
The Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero added that the UK will continue to need oil and gas in the coming decades and that it therefore makes sense to utilise our own resources, not least because domestically produced gas is almost four times cleaner than importing liquefied natural gas from abroad.
Latest BP Argos gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico/USA. Photo: BP
An energy system that is secure, remains affordable and increasingly dispenses with fossil fuels in the future remains the goal. This is why the UK is not giving up on its climate targets: However, the war in Ukraine shows how extremely vulnerable energy systems are.
Unilaterally reducing the existing energy mix of nuclear power, fossil fuels and renewable energy sources, as in Germany, before redundant systems are fully established usually means a disorganised transition, but always rising prices; especially if supply is reduced and does not always keep pace with demand. In order to fulfil the Paris climate protection agreement, enormous investments in lower-carbon energies are still required - with continued investments in gas as well.
From a British perspective, the awarding of additional exploration licences is therefore a realistic economic and climate policy. In Germany, this is unfortunately a "divisive issue" and it can no longer even be debated objectively - keyword: fracking.
Source: Offshore, kdk
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