Oil and Gas Bid Rounds; UK Introduces Annual Licensing Opportunities

If the new Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill passes in the UK Parliament, oil and gas companies will have more frequent opportunities to secure exploration and production licenses in the North Sea. For oil and gas companies, this is a lucrative, yet highly competitive, opportunity, One that will require more frequent expert time and resource investment.

Do you have the tools you need to take advantage of more frequent growth opportunities?  

Opportunity Knocks; Are you ready?

On November 8th, the United Kingdom (UK) government introduced the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill to Parliament. This marks a significant shift in UK energy policy, aimed at boosting the UK economy, energy security and the transition to net zero. 

Currently, there is no fixed period between licensing rounds in the UK. If the Bill passes, the UK offshore regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority, will be required to invite applications for new North Sea oil and gas licenses every year. And oil and gas operators will have more frequent opportunities to explore. But at what cost?

What is a licensing round? A government invitation to oil and gas companies to bid on the opportunity to explore that country’s acreage for fossil fuels. Once there is a discovery, the company may obtain a production license. 

Licensing Round Application Complexity

Writing licensing round applications is a complex and costly process. Applications require companies to harness the expertise of a wide variety of global experts. Experts must research a variety of geophysical data such as seismic surveys, well and field data, as well as model contracts to evaluate available acreage. The team must write a strategic response that also navigates the regulatory landscape with meticulous attention to detail. All while balancing competing priorities and shifting schedules against tight deadlines. 

It’s a time-consuming, and often frustrating process. One that is easily derailed by contributor silos, diagram and chart-heavy documents, and version control and reformatting issues that drive constant disconnects and set-backs. 

To overcome these time-consuming challenges, global oil and gas companies are taking a proven yet innovative approach to collaborative document development - one that delivers licensing applications 70% faster. 

Licensing Round Applications 70% Faster

“With XaitPorter,” said Amo Chauhan, Business Development Manager, “customers like Aker BP, one of the largest independent oil companies in Europe, have streamlined and accelerated their extremely detailed licensing and PDO document creation process.”

Instead of the time-consuming setbacks, Aker BP global experts are saving time by writing together, real-time, without the hassles, no matter where or when they work. 

“For one of the documents we just wrote,” said Silje Kartfjord, HSSEQ Manager, Subsea Alliance at Aker BP, “we had 34 different writers and 41 different reviewers. That means 75 different people worked on the document at the same time. It went smoothly from start to finish.”

And they aren’t alone. For successful oil and gas companies operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, as well as UK, Mexico, Greenland, Iceland, and Denmark, XaitPorter has become the standard solution for heavy-duty document production.

Successful Oil and Gas Licensing Rounds

“Crafting a successful oil and gas licensing application,” continued Amo, “requires a deep understanding of regulatory requirements and technical expertise. And a compelling case for the proposed projects environmental and economic validity.”

With XaitPorter’s co-authoring, automation and ISO certified technology, successful customers invest more precious time on strategy and execution, rather than on coordination, logistics and administration. In fact, 100% of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) for 2022 operator licenses went to XaitPorter clients.

Learn more about how XaitPorter helps oil and gas business leaders streamline their licensing application process and deliver large, complex applications, studies, reports and proposals 70% faster.