UAE-based RAK Gas has launched the first round of its oil and gas licencing in both London (UK) and the northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, said a report.

The energy licencing round opened yesterday (January 1) in London and Ras Al Khaimah, reported state news agency Wam citing the website of government-owned RAK Gas.

The licencing round follows a review by RAK Gas of onshore and offshore sub-surface potential. A 3-D seismic programme covering around 2,000 sq km of the offshore area got under way early last month and is due to continue until early February, stated the report.

The data room will be open until early July, following which there will be a 3-month period during which interested companies can submit bids for acreage. Contract awards are expected in October, it added.

According to RAK Gas, the emirate’s complex geology creates diverse exploration opportunities, with both speculative prospects and proven prospects analogous to the Cretaceous Carbonates in the offshore Saleh field, operated by Norwegian firm DNO, controlled by RAK Petroleum, and now coming to the end of its commercial life.

Bids for a licencing round for four blocks in Oman closed on December 31. Block 43B, covering 11,967 sq km in the coastal zone, north of the Hajar Mountains, was previously relinquished by Hungarian oil group MOL, and is seen by Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas as a conventional gas play.

Block 47, covering 8,524 sq. km. adjacent to the southern boundary of Block 43B, was relinquished by Norway’s DNO, said the Wam report.

Four gas and gas/condensate prospects have been mapped. Block 51, covering 10,132 sq km, is in interior Oman, and has previously been explored by a number of companies, with gas and condensate shows, while the small Block 65, covering 1,230 sq km, formerly operated by Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production, has produced oil and gas shows, it added.