The main 134 awards in the 28th round were confirmed in November last year, and today 41 new licenses, including four awarded to Eon and three to Centrica, have been confirmed following additional environmental assessment and consultation.
This brings the total number of licences awarded to 175, the majority of which are ‘drill or drop’ which require the operator to drill a well within a certain length of time or give up the licence area.
Energy minister Andrea Leadsom said: “We are determined to make the most of our North Sea resources to provide secure, reliable energy for hardworking families and businesses and reduce our reliance on volatile foreign imports.
“We are backing our oil and gas industry which supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the UK. The 28th offshore licensing round comes after the government announced a major package of support in March to encourage £4 billion of additional investment in the North Sea which will prolong the life of this vital industry.”
As part of the Budget in March, Chancellor George Osborne confirmed the 30 per cent supplementary tax charge on North Sea profits would be cut to 20 per cent, and back dated to the start of the year.
The move, which the Chancellor said would “boost expected North Sea oil production by 15 per cent by the end of the decade”, was welcomed by Centrica, the largest single player in the offshore oil and gas industry, which has seen its share prices and profits tumble over the last year on the back of record low oil prices of less than $50 per barrel in January.