Monday 25 September 2017

The UK government has pledged a further £5 million ($6.7 million) of funding to support new North Sea oil and gas exploration.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond made the announcement during a visit to the Scottish oil capital Aberdeen on Monday.

The cash will be used by the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) to carry out surveys of under-explored areas of the UK continental shelf.

Hammond said: “The oil and gas industry remains vital for the Scottish economy and the UK as a whole.

“The £5 million funding I am announcing will help exploration to find potential new deposits, and boost prospects for jobs in Aberdeen and the surrounding area.

“This continues the UK government’s extensive package of tax and funding support for the industry and the wider Scottish economy.”

OGA chief executive Andy Samuel said: “The OGA team are delighted to use this funding to provide industry with a range of high-quality new data.

“This will significantly help address exploration risks and uncertainties and promote frontier and under-explored areas.

"Oil and gas continues to be a vital contributor to the UK economy and energy security, and there has been tremendous progress over the past two years, despite the low oil price environment.

Before Monday’s announcement, the UK government has already provided £40 million ($50 million) of funding for seismic acquisition programmes, which the OGA has been using to build a regional database in under-explored areas of the UK continental shelf.

This included two new seismic campaigns covering the Mid North Sea High and the Rockall basin in 2015/2016 and the East Shetland platform and south-west Britain in 2016/2017.

Samuel said: “We have seen how targeted intervention can have a disproportionately positive effect – for example the first round of seismic funding for the OGA opened up frontier areas for the 29th Offshore Licensing Round, where we awarded 25 licences to 17 companies.”

Oil & Gas UK chief executive Deirdre Michie said: "It’s good to see the Chancellor here in Aberdeen. His visit sends a strong message of support for industry and his funding announcement to help stimulate exploration - that has been particularly hard hit by the downturn - is a welcome boost."