§ Mr. Laurance Reedasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will invite applications for further petroleum production licences on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf.
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§ Sir J. EdenI have decided to invite applications for about 430 blocks; the formal statutory notice inviting applications and giving details of the terms and conditions is being published in the official Gazette today.
The blocks offered will be in four main areas, the southern part of the North Sea, the northern Sector of the North Sea, an area to the north-west of the Orkneys and Shetlands and parts of the Bristol Channel and Western Approaches. For 15 specified blocks cash tenders will be invited and, subject to the published conditions, those blocks will be awarded to the highest bidders.