Martin Quinlan, LONDON: The UK’s 27th licensing round, thrown open on 1 February, offers explorers their choice of 2,800 blocks covering virtually the entire unlicensed offshore. The blocks include 79 holding undeveloped discoveries and 17 holding fields where production has ended.
In the northern North Sea, available areas extend from south of the Shetland Islands to Quadrant 222, in the extreme north, and there are many part-blocks between licences in the East Shetland basin. In the central and southern North Sea,...