EurOil: UK awards more oil and gas licences

The UK’s North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) regulator on January 30 announced it had awarded 25 licences for offshore exploration to 17 companies in total, including leading players Shell, Equinor, BP and TotalEnergies.

The awards come as the ruling Conservative government is pushing a bill through Parliament that would make it mandatory to hold licensing rounds every year, rather than on an adhoc basis as done currently. The bill has met scathing criticism from the opposition Labour party – current polls indicate it is on track for a landslide victory in the next general election –which has described it as “climate vandalism.”

The latest awards add to the 27 that the NSTA offered to oil and gas companies in the first stage of the round in October last year. All told, the regulator has awarded licences for 74 blocks.

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