Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of oil and gas reserves in the North Sea that are not yet licensed for extraction.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) publishes a Reserves and Resources report detailing annual estimates of remaining UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) oil and gas reserves and resources, including volumes that are not currently licensed or developed.

The most recent North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) report was published in October 2025 and is available on the NSTA’s website. It estimates that the total unlicensed resource is around 5.1bn barrels of oil equivalent (bnboe), comprising 2.0 bnboe of marginal discoveries (42% gas) and 3.1 bnboe of prospective resource (34% gas).

This does not reflect the viability of reserves and probability of production. Due to the maturity of the basin, remaining reserves are often technically challenging and may not be commercially viable to extract.