UKCS offshore petroleum licence blocks history (WGS84)

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). 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. 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. Licence data is represented by 3 different datasets; Licence. Licence polygons represent the whole licence and have one polygon per licence. Licence Blocks. Licenced Blocks and Sub areas represent finer divisions of these licences and may have many polygons per licence. Sub Areas. Most Licenced Blocks are split with several sub areas, sometimes with differing operators and beneficiaries.许可证（Licence）是用于石油资源普查、勘探与开采的地理划定区域。北海过渡管理局（North Sea Transition Authority, NSTA）的许可证管理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《石油法案》（Petroleum Act 1998）将英国境内所有石油资源的全部权利划归王室所有，但北海过渡管理局可授予许可证，赋予持证人“勘探、钻探并开采”石油的专属权利。许可证可划分为多个类别，核心区分维度包括陆上与海上许可证，以及仅涵盖单一勘探活动的勘探许可证与同时覆盖勘探与开采全流程的开采许可证。北海过渡管理局在许可证授予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。许可证数据共包含三类不同数据集：1. 许可证（Licence）：许可证多边形（Licence polygons）代表完整的许可证实体，每个许可证对应一个多边形。2. 许可证区块（Licence Blocks）：该数据集包含已许可区块（Licenced Blocks）与子区域（Sub Areas），作为上述许可证的精细化划分单元，单个许可证可对应多个多边形。3. 子区域（Sub Areas）：多数已许可区块会被拆分为多个子区域，部分子区域可能配备不同的作业方与受益方。