Norwegian Oil Giant Takes Five New Blocks Offshore UK
Norwegian oil giant Equinor has been awarded five offshore licenses in the UK as part of the Oil and Gas Authority’s 31st offshore licensing round.
The licenses are located in the Moray Firth and East Shetland Platform, expanding upon Equinor’s current position in these areas of the North Sea. Equinor was also awarded an extension to the Frigg License in the Northern North Sea supporting the Frigg redevelopment project. The license awards include commitments for seismic surveys in several areas on the East Shetland Platform and the Moray Firth.
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Out of the five licenses awarded to Equinor, the Norwegian oil firm has won four as operator and one as partner. Overall, the OGA has awarded 37 license areas over 141 blocks or part-blocks to 30 companies in the 31st Offshore Licensing Round.
“These awards in this frontier licensing round are important in continuing our high level of exploration activity on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), in support of our ambition to be a leading energy provider to the UK,” says Nick Ashton, senior vice president for exploration in Norway and UK.
“The UK Offshore Licensing rounds enable us to add new opportunities to our exploration portfolio in a prolific basin, in line with our strategy to unlock the remaining potential in both underexplored and more mature areas. We believe in continued value creation on the UKCS through new discoveries and look forward to our fifth exploration well in 2019, Lifjellet, to be drilled later this year,” says Ashton.
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Equinor has described itself as one of the most active explorers in the UK. Last year, in May 2018, Equinor was awarded nine new licenses in the 30th Offshore Licensing round, eight as an operator.
In other Equinor-related news in the UK, the company on Tuesday announced a new timeline for a Final Investment Decision for its Rosebank field development. The FID is now expected by May 2022.
