They think its all over - -13 Aug 2020 11:29
Posters tend to comment on the details of planning applications, and rightly so, but I sense there are moves afoot at national government level to let Onshore E&P fizzle out?
The lack of a supply of new acreage in UK is one reason SS have elected to try Turkey instead.
When you look at the history, ‘the writing is on the wall’ - especially on OGA’s website.
All but a couple of UK’s onshore oil & gas fields were discovered when licences could be acquired on an ad hoc basis. Except for East Midlands and Kimmeridge, the discoveries were made by four or five companies in a15 year period which ended around 1986.This co-incided with the arrival of Vibroseis as a technique which functioned in culturally ‘noisy’ seismic environments.
Since then, a group of small-time operators have scavenged the remains of the first wave of successful drilling, added very little, spent a lot of money and paid themselves fortunes.
Since the Government introduced the current licensing system and there have been 14 onshore licensing rounds. The last licensing round, the 14th Onshore Round, was held six years ago and a decision on the timing of the next round has yet to be made. When, or if, a future round is announced, it will be placed in the London Gazette detailing the areas on offer and accompanying guidance provided as to the requirements for applications.
There was a flurry of enthusiasm for fracking from Downing Street which was provoked by Cuadrilla lobbying David Cameron. But thereafter, all we saw was a long delay while OGA concocted legislation to effectively prevent fracking onshore UK. Meanwhile OGA was actively encouraging hydraulic stimulation in the Offshore Carboniferous and Permian gas plays - yielding several tcf of new, proven reserves.
Today, there is no mention of Onshore licensing or its significance in OGA’s strategic plan. All the rhetoric from UKOG about its role in UK’s energy future seems a bit OTT.
Finally, there is OGA’s latest net zero aspiration.
https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/the-move-to-net-zero/overview/
The UK gov’t, of any colour, will never say they don’t support Onshore oil and gas. But neither will they waste valuable political capital to support projects which are inconsistent with national aspirations set out by OGA. Offshore, is a tougher nut to crack which will take another couple of decades.
France tried to ban all onshore drilling, but soon realised they would be hit by a wave of expensive law suits if they did. France has 64 oil and gas fields but these produce only 1% of the country’s oil needs, relying on imports for the rest. Instead, the French government is simply starving its onshore industry to death with no new licences, and getting plenty of support from voters.
By the next election, perhaps we can even expect to see party manifestos advocating a shut down of onshore E&P in UK.
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