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British regulator awards more North Sea oil and gas licences

Britain's oil and gas regulator on Friday awarded 31 new hydrocarbon expedition licences as part of efforts to extend production in the ageing basin.

The licences become part of the third and last tranche of the North Sea Transition Authority's (NSTA) 33rd oil and gas licensing round, which has actually granted a total of 82 licenses to 50 business.

The round has so far licensed expedition activity with the potential to add around 600 million barrels of oil equivalent ( mmboe) up to 2060, or 545 mmboe by 2050.

That has actually angered ecological groups who have argued that the expansion of oil and gas production is irregular with the government's target to end up being a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

The licences are generally for gas extraction from the southern North Sea, market body Offshore Energies UK stated, with the possible to begin production within the next five years.

Friday's awards follow 27 licences provided in a first allowance in October last year and 24 licenses provided in a. second allotment in January, the NSTA said.

An expedition licence does not necessarily lead to a. producing field.

Britain's North Sea output stands at about 1.3 million. barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed). That is down from. about 4.4 million boed - more than OPEC heavyweight Iraq - at. the start of the millennium.

Output is predicted to decrease to less than 200,000 boed by. 2050, the NSTA states.

The NSTA has actually presented a brand-new provision for overlapping oil and. gas licences and wind leases for the first time, as the main. industrial system for these licences to fix spatial. overlaps.

It has actually identified a number of awards that have direct or. really close distance to some wind farm leases of The Crown. Estate and Crown Estate Scotland, and is engaging with the. offshore industry on co-location.

(source: Reuters)