UKCS Licences ETRS89 is a geospatial dataset from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) detailing areas licensed for petroleum prospecting, exploration, and extraction. The data covers Great Britain, its territorial sea, and the UK Continental Shelf, with polygons representing licences, licensed blocks, and sub-areas. The dataset was last updated on 2025-11-16 by the Government Digital Service.
Use Cases
- Map the spatial distribution of oil and gas exploration rights based on licence polygons.
- Analyze the subdivision of licences into blocks and sub-areas for operational management.
- Support regulatory oversight of petroleum resource extraction based on the licensing system described.
- Integrate with other maritime datasets for environmental or economic impact assessments.
Strengths
- Data is provided in multiple geospatial formats (KML, GEOJSON, CSV, ZIP) for flexibility.
- Represents the official licensing system governed by the Petroleum Act 1998 and administered by the NSTA.
- Includes hierarchical geographic divisions: full licences, licensed blocks, and sub-areas.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Freshness should be verified as the last update timestamp is 2025-11-16 17:57:43.135000.
Provenance
- Source
- North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) / Government Digital Service
- Collection Method
- Administrative data from the UK's petroleum licensing system.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last updated 2025-11-16 17:57:43.135000
- Geography
- Great Britain, its territorial sea, and the UK Continental Shelf