Want to acquire or dispose of North Sea acreage? Check out the new LIFT (License Information for Trading) website. Managed by Schlumberger and powered by Finder and GeoWeb, LIFT allows users to browse available North Sea blocks from any web-browser. Sellers can use LIFT as a global shop window and the facility is intended to be used for asset sale, trade and farm-in opportunities. LIFT sponsors are the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Oil and Gas Industry Task Force (OGITF).
OGTIF
The OGITF was set up in 1998 and is the brainchild of New Labour éminence grise Peter Mandelson. The OGITF mission was to asses the impact on the UK oil and gas industry of the low oil price – especially in the light of the 300,000 jobs at risk in this sector. OGITF set out to ‘develop mutual understanding of the key issues for the industry both short term and over the next 10 years, including technology development, environmental policies and knowledge management.’
plans
As with most best laid plans, the oil price has bounced back, the jobs are still going, but the UK has a great website! Through LIFT, the UK government acknowledges that "company circumstances may have changed since licenses were awarded, with respect to the perspectives, intentions and abilities to invest in exploiting license reserves potential." The consequent aim of LIFT is "to provide a framework to encourage oil and gas license trading." Other aims include the reduction of ownership fragmentation and portfolio optimization.
DEAL
In conjunction with LIFT, there is an ambitious plan to augment the visibility of data available on LIFT-ed acreage. The Data Environment Associated with LIFT (DEAL) DEAL intends to create the ‘definitive index database for basic well and seismic data.’ And to become a data marketplace. Workshops are being held with industry representatives to determine level of interest for such a facility and a tender will be put out in early 2000.
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