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The equivalent of nearly 17 billion barrels of oil will be up for grabs at the biggest ever licensing round in the UK North Sea, due to get underway before the end of the month.

That’s according to a report by analysts Hannon Westwood, which assessed the acreage on offer during the 25th licensing round – expected to launch at the end of January and conclude late April.

It will offer more blocks than any previous UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) licensing round and – as the research reveals – has the potential to add 648 mmboe through 36 undeveloped discoveries and 16.6 billion boe thorough 275 prospects to the UKCS asset pool.

Among the companies vying for acreage will be Aim-listed Xcite Energy (XEL:AIM), a heavy oil specialist which floated in November last year with the express aim of acquiring heavy oil projects in the North Sea – partly by participating in the upcoming round and in future licensing rounds.

The executive director of Hannon Westwood, Chris Bulley, says: ‘As a result of the series of UKCS licence rounds held over the past four years, the number of companies with acreage in the region has more than doubled to over 170 companies.

‘The supply of acreage anticipated to become available for licensing in the 25th round is expected to fuel the pace of exploration and appraisal activity for these companies and also potential new entrant companies.’

He adds that in the last year, the UKCS has seen the highest level of exploration and appraisal drilling for more than a decade, with over 65 vertical wells spudded in 2007. More than 220 exploration and appraisal wells in the Hannon Westwood database have been targeted for drilling in the next two years and it expects at least three years of drilling at the current pace.