The UK launches its 33rd licensing round today
Accelerated gas focus for new UK licensing round
Regulator designates four priority clusters in Southern North Sea for fast track
The UK’s 33rd licensing round, which launches at 6pm today, will inevitably be controversial in a country where a robust and vocal environmental lobby co-exists with hydrocarbons production. But regulator the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) looks to be aiming to tap into greater public appetite for secure domestic gas supplies to garner support for the new acreage awards. UK environmentalists have already shown their hand by warning that more licensing will not help solve the country’s so-called ‘gas crisis’ in the near term. But the NSTA has identified four priority cluster areas in the gas-rich Southern North Sea that have known hydrocarbons, are close to infrastructure and have the
Also in this section
10 March 2026
Eni’s director for global gas and LNG portfolio, Cristian Signoretto, discusses how demand will respond to rising LNG supply, and how the company is expanding its own gas and LNG operations through disciplined, capital-efficient investments
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
6 March 2026
The March 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
