Government Approves 24 New Oil and Gas Exploration Licences in North Sea

The government has approved 24 new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea to “ensure job security” and provide “benefits” to the UK economy. The decision has been met with criticism from environmental campaigners, who have argued that the UK economy will suffer from reliance on fossil fuels. The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), an independent regulator that assesses applications for exploring oil and gas fields, announced the new awards on Wednesday. Shell, Equinor, bp, Total and NEO were among the recipients of the 24 licenses awarded in the second tranche of the 33rd oil and gas licensing round. The NTSA opened the round in Oct. 2022 and made more than 900 Blocks available for bidding....