OIL industry regulator the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has launched the 30th offshore licensing round which is again aimed at persuading companies to exploit more mature areas of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

A total of 813 blocks or part-blocks are being offered – some of which have not been available since 1965, when the first gas was discovered in the North Sea.

They cover an area of 114,426sq km (44,180sq miles) in the Southern, Central and Northern North Sea, the west of Shetland and East Irish Sea and feature a range of prospects and undeveloped discoveries.

The round will feature the new Innovate Licence, developed by the OGA in collaboration with industry to create flexible, variable licences, which allow applicants to propose the durations of the initial and second terms covering the anticipated work lifespan from carrying out geotechnical studies, to seismic surveys and eventually to production of oil and gas.

To support companies in their technical assessments, the OGA has released around 140 datapacks on undeveloped discoveries which are included in the latest round offering.

Of these, around 60 contain what are described as “technical montages” which provide the discovery’s history, static and dynamic information and digital subsurface data.

In addition, regional geological maps covering the Central North Sea and Moray Firth were also made freely available last week, together with a number of supporting datasets and studies.

These can be accessed online via the Data Centre on OGA’s website, along with an updated set of relinquishment reports and geospatial data.

Andy Samuel, OGA chief executive, said: “The 30th licensing round offers companies a significant opportunity to rebuild their portfolios, taking advantage of the flexible Innovate Licence, technology and improvements to the UKCS fiscal regime.

“These factors combined mean now is a very good time to invest on the UKCS.

“We are encouraging companies to take a fresh look at large areas of acreage, some of which has not been available since 1965, and make best use of the recently released information and new data packs to inform their applications.”

The 30th round will remain open for 120 days until November 21 and decisions are expected to be made in the second quarter of next year.

Oil and Gas UK’s upstream policy director Mike Tholen added that the latest round could provide a boost for the UK economy: “Cost effective deployment of technology will be critical to the success of the round and we support the 30th Round Technology Forum which the OGA and the Oil and Gas Technology Centre are co-hosting on August 22 to help make a success of the licensing round. Given the improved efficiency and cost effectiveness of the UKCS, the 30th licensing round has all the ingredients to prove successful for the UKCS, and indeed for the UK economy.”