While an exploration licence doesn’t always lead to a production field, the NSTA says that the new licences were “prioritised because they have the potential to go into production more quickly than others.” 

About half of the 27 licences will start development in known reserves, while the others will begin exploration.

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the UK had a “comprehensive legal framework of stringent environmental protection measures for all offshore oil and gas activities”.

He added: “Prior to any licenses being awarded, OPRED [the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning] carries out a screening exercise to determine whether any activity is likely to have a significant effect on a relevant site.”

A NSTA spokesperson said: “Vulnerable and protected habitats and species are considered throughout the licensing and permitting process and licences are only awarded when the NSTA has received permission from OPRED that their environmental assessment requirements are met.”

The NSTA has emphasised that, even after a licence is granted, the licensee will still need to get further consents from the authority before they can conduct seismic surveys, drill exploration wells or progress towards full production. 

More than half of the blocks awarded last month (11 out of 17) that sit within or overlap MPAs went to the oil giant Shell UK. A further three went to a subsidiary of the Italian oil company Eni, and three to Athena Exploration.

Shell declined to comment for this story.

A spokesperson for Eni told Unearthed that while the company’s licence area “partially overlaps” with a marine conservation zone, “no activity of any kind has ever been foreseen in the area that falls within the marine protected area”.

Entire ecosystems will be negatively impacted by destructive oil and gas exploration

 

– Anna Moscrop, policy manager at Whale and Dolphin Conservation

The MPA most-affected by the new tranche of licences is the the North-east Faroe-Shetland channel, which is believed to be a migration route for marine mammals, including fin whales and sperm whales. In total 11 of the blocks approved sit wholly or partly within this conservation area, including eight of the Shell blocks.

“MPAs are key habitats that support the UK’s rich marine life, including whales and dolphins, and entire ecosystems will be negatively impacted by destructive oil and gas exploration,” said Anna Moscrop, policy manager at Whale and Dolphin Conservation. 

She told Unearthed that the Faroe-Shetland channel is “one of the largest designated nature conservation MPAs.” 

“It is a vital corridor for migrating whales moving between high latitude feeding grounds and breeding areas to the south, and for deep diving species such as sperm and beaked whales which feed in deep waters,” she added. “Fragile and vulnerable deep sea sponges and cold water corals are also found here.” 

Earlier this year, the government announced plans to issue hundreds of new licences for North Sea oil and gas. The licences awarded last months are just the first batch of blocks to be approved in the current licensing round. The NSTA says that more blocks will be offered in this round, subject to additional environmental checks. 

The new blocks were granted a month after the approval of the controversial Rosebank project, the UK’s largest untapped oil field off the coast of Scotland, which according to Equinor’s environmental statement will involve building a new pipeline that cuts through the Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt MPA. 

Last month’s licence awards also included one block that sits wholly within the Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt. The site is home to rare giant deep-sea sponges that, due to their appearance, are also known as “cheese bottoms.” The sponges often provide shelter for fish species, and their populations are only found in UK waters.  

Other MPAs affected by last month’s tranche of licences included the East Gannet and Montrose Fields and the Fulmar marine conservation zone.

Protected areas like the East Gannet and Montrose Fields safeguard species such as the ocean quahog, one of the longest living creatures on Earth, and offer vital food sources for fish. 

According to an Oceana report published earlier this year, 40% of all the new licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea that could be approved in the current round are within marine protected areas. 

According to the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), the public body responsible for nature conservation in the UK’s offshore marine environment, the protected features of each of these MPAs are “considered to be sensitive to pressures associated with…‘licensable activities.’”

However, the JNCC also notes that activities like oil and gas exploration within these MPAs follow regulations outlined in The Marine & Coastal Access Act. Under these rules, JNCC advises the regulator on developments that could significantly impact the MPA’s protected features and hinder conservation goals. 

“It is increasingly clear that effective protection mechanisms are not in place to ensure that designated marine protected areas and protected species are safe from harm and damage around the UK,” said Moscrop.