It great Britain launched on Friday the first round of licensing Crude oil and gas since 2019, with the aim of granting more than 100 licenses to increase national production Crude oil and gas and reducing dependence on foreign fossil fuel sources.

The North Sea Transitional Authority (NSTA), the regulator responsible for managing and granting exploration and production licenses, said Friday that “inviting application for license to explore and potentially develop 898 blocks and portions of blocks in the North Sea, which could result in over 100 licenses.”

According to the British authorities and government, UK energy security will be “significantly improved” with the launch of the 33rd licensing round.

The licensing round is part of the UK government’s renewed efforts to boost domestic production, including the official lifting of the UK shale gas extraction moratorium last month.

Authorities will try to get operators to start production after licensing as soon as possible and to encourage this, NSTA has identified four priority areas in the south North Sea. These areas are known to have reserves Crude oil and gas, is close to infrastructure and has the potential to grow rapidly. Authorities will try to grant licenses for blocks in this zone before anything else.

The application period will be extended until January 12, 2023, and the first license is expected to be granted in the second quarter of 2023, NSTA said.

“Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine means that it is now more important than ever that we harness sovereign energy resources, strengthening our energy security now and in the future,” said Secretary of Business and Energy Jacob Rees-Mogg, commenting on the launch of the licensing round.

“Ensuring our energy independence means exploiting the full potential of our North Sea assets to increase domestic production, recognizing that UK gas production has a lower carbon footprint than importing from overseas.” Rees-Mogg added.

Environmental campaigners criticized the new round of licensing, with Philip Evans, Greenpeace UK’s energy transition campaign manager, stating: “This government energy policy benefits fossil fuel companies and does not benefit anyone else.”

“New license from Crude oil and gas will not reduce the energy bills of struggling families this winter or the coming winter, nor will it provide energy security in the medium term.” Evans said, according to the BBC.

News taken from: OilPrice / Free translation from English by world energy trade

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