NSTA Sub Areas by Equity Group Holder (BNG)

A Licence is a geographically defined area for prospecting, exploration or extraction of petroleum resources. The North Sea Transition Authority’s licensing system covers oil and gas within Great Britain, its territorial sea and on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).<br />The Petroleum Act 1998 vests all rights to the nation’s petroleum resources in the Crown, but the NSTA can grant licences that confer exclusive rights to ‘search and bore for and get’ petroleum.<br />Licences fall into several categories. The principal distinctions are between onshore and offshore licences, and between exploration licences (which cover exploration alone) and production licences (which cover both exploration and production). The NSTA has discretion in the granting of licences to help maximise the economic recovery of the UK’s oil and gas resources.<br />Licence data is represented by 3 different datasets; Licences, Licence Blocks and Sub Areas. Licence polygons represent the whole licence and have one polygon per licence. Licenced Blocks and Sub areas represent finer divisions of these licences and may have many polygons per licence. Most Licenced Blocks are split with several sub areas, sometimes with differing operators and beneficiaries.许可证（Licence）是为开展石油资源踏勘、勘探或开采而划定的地理区域。北海过渡管理局（North Sea Transition Authority, NSTA）的许可证制度覆盖大不列颠境内、其领海以及英国大陆架（UK Continental Shelf, UKCS）范围内的油气资源。 1998年《石油法》（Petroleum Act 1998）将英国所有石油资源的全部权利归属王室，但北海过渡管理局（NSTA）可颁发许可证，赋予持证人“勘查、钻探并开采”石油的专属权利。 许可证可分为多个类别，核心区分维度包括陆上与海上许可证，以及仅覆盖勘探环节的勘探许可证与同时覆盖勘探和开采环节的生产许可证。北海过渡管理局（NSTA）在许可证颁发环节拥有自由裁量权，以最大化英国油气资源的经济采收率。 许可证数据由三类不同的数据集构成：许可证（Licences）、许可证区块（Licence Blocks）与子区域（Sub Areas）。许可证多边形（Polygon）代表完整的许可证范围，每个许可证对应一个多边形。许可证区块与子区域是对许可证的更精细划分，每个许可证可对应多个多边形。多数许可证区块会被拆分为若干子区域，部分子区域可能拥有不同的作业方与受益方。