§ Mr. Jacques ArnoldTo ask the President of the Board of Trade when oil and gas companies will have a further opportunity to apply for onshore petroleum licences. [19701]
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§ Mr. PageI am pleased to announce that an eighth landward licensing round will open shortly for licences to explore onshore areas of the United Kingdom for oil and gas reserves. This round follows the award of licences in March last year under the seventh round. It is being launched now in response to demand from companies for new licences to meet a growing interest in using methane venting from disused coal mines, as well as to explore for conventional oil and natural gas resources.
A formal notice inviting applications for petroleum exploration and development licences under the Petroleum (Production) (Landward Areas) Regulations 1995 will appear in due course in the Official Journal of the European Communities. This will set the closing date for receipt of applications as 90 days after the notice is published. Licence awards will be announced as soon as possible after all applications have been thoroughly assessed.
The notice will invite applications for all unlicensed acreage above the high water mark. Any exploration and development activity under a licence would need planning permission from the local planning authority in the usual way.
Areas below the high water mark are not included in the eighth round invitation, but may be offered in future when those which include, or are close to, sites designated as European sites have been subject to environmental assessment in accordance with the Conservation (Natural Habitats and etc) Regulations 1994.