Tuesday, March 8, 2016

UK regulator launches exploration license competition

LONDON -- The Oil and Gas Authority—the UK’s industry regulator—has launched a competition linked to future exploration licensing rounds in order to stimulate further offshore oil and gas exploration activity in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS).

The $700,000–plus (£500,000) competition has been designed to encourage geoscientists and engineers to develop innovative interpretations and products potentially using the data acquired during last year’s government-funded seismic surveys of the Rockall basin and Mid North Sea High (MNSH) areas.

Successful applicants may be awarded up to $42,700 (£30,000) ‘seed funding’ to carry out initial analysis, then two winning candidates may be awarded around $142,000 (£100,000) to develop their work into a final product for use by the OGA.

It is hoped the competition will not only significantly increase the understanding of these frontier areas in respect of the 29th Seaward Licensing Round later in the year, but also retain talent in the oil and gas community, which has been affected by the oil and gas industry downturn.

The data package available to applicants consists of around 40,000 km of new and reprocessed legacy seismic data (including a substantial set of broadband 2D seismic data), supplemented by gravity, magnetic and well data.

In addition, in order to stimulate exploration interest in advance of the 29th Licensing Round, OGA will make all of this data openly available at the end of March 2016—the first time such large quantities of data have been made freely available to all.

“We hope this competition will lead to a greater understanding of some of the UK’s frontier areas and capture the imagination of some of the brightest minds in the highly talented geoscience community,” Gunther Newcombe, OGA exploration and production director, said. “For the first time, substantial quantities of new and reprocessed seismic data will be freely and openly available to all. This, and the forthcoming implementation of a more flexible new licensing regime, will play a crucial role in revitalizing exploration of the basin.”

Source: worldoil.com

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Tu comentario será moderado la primera vez que lo hagas al igual que si incluyes enlaces. A partir de ahi no ser necesario si usas los mismos datos y mantienes la cordura. No se publicarán insultos, difamaciones o faltas de respeto hacia los lectores y comentaristas de este blog.