Following the passing of Parliamentary Act on the Second Licensing Round this spring, the Minister of Trade and Industry has launched the Second Licensing Round on the Faroese continental shelf. The objective of launching the Second Licensing Round is to continue the exploration activities that began under the First Licensing Round to establish the existence of commercially exploitable hydrocarbon reserves in the Faroese subsoil.
When awarding exploration licenses, emphasis will be placed on the work programs that the applicants are willing to undertake. In addition, it is important that Faroese industry is given an opportunity to participate in the activities to allow hydrocarbon exploration and production to contribute to a more diversified business community.
"The Second Licensing Round shall be seen as a natural step in the strategy of finding commercial quantities of hydrocarbons on the Faroe Shelf. We want to draw attention to the many opportunities still unexplored and in particular the chances of discovering substantial hydrocarbon accumulations in the Faroese area," says Bjarni Djurholm, minister of Trade and Industry.
The area offered for licensing lies to the east and the south of the Faroe Islands. It covers 19,000 sq km, divided into 83 whole blocks and 39 part-blocks. Applications must be submitted to the Faroese Petroleum Administration by November 17 at noon. The Minister of Trade and Industry plans to award licenses in January 2005.
The licensing material and the Parliamentary Act on the Second Licensing Round can be requested from the Petroleum Administration and are also available at the Petroleum Administration's web site, www.ofs.fo.
8/18/04
