§ Mr. Needhamasked the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects to announce licence awards under the ninth round of offshore licensing.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerI am now able to announce awards for the 13 cash tender blocks applied for in the ninth round. These awards go to the highest bidder in each case and complete the cash tender part of the round. The bids total £121.3 million; the highest was £25.5 million from BP for block 15/18b. Full details are set out in a note which has today been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The assessment of applications for blocks in the "discretionary" part of the round is proceeding, and I hope to be able to announce awards for these in April or May.