Tuesday 14 June 2005

NORTH SEA BIDS RECORD IS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FOR UK OIL AND GAS

The record number of applications for blocks in the UK offshore Oil and Gas 23rd Licensing Round announced today by the Energy Minister is a massive vote of confidence for UK oil and gas, said Malcolm Webb, chief executive of the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA).

The round, which included the innovative Frontier and Promote licences alongside the traditional licence, offered the widest range of opportunities in many years for companies wanting to explore for new hydrocarbons on the UK continental shelf.  The open shop approach has paid off, said Malcolm Webb.

We estimate that the UK has up to 28 billion barrels in oil and gas reserves still to recover.  But we need to move quickly to extract this prize before offshore pipelines and installations are decommissioned and the opportunity to use existing infrastructure to produce this resource is lost.  It is vitally important for our industrys long-term future that the UK maintains the level of interest demonstrated today and provides the business environment which will encourage further investment in new oil and gas development and production.

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